FTC Disclosures 101: why 'sp' fails and what to burn into a video

The FTC's Disclosures 101 guide says plain words like "ad," "sponsored" or "advertisement" work, and warns against unclear shorthand such as "sp," "spon" or a standalone "thanks" (FTC guide, read 2026-10-02). For video it advises putting the disclosure in the video itself, ideally in both audio and visuals. With Sume you can burn the words in through caption cues.

The wording rules in one table

The guide is short and specific about words and placement. These are the points that matter when you set the text of an overlay.

Burning the words in

Sume's video captions endpoint accepts cues (or segments) with text, start and end, which burn authored overlay copy without speech-to-text. You choose the words and the seconds, so a line like "Ad: paid partnership with [Brand]" can sit on screen for a set window. The docs also say a silent clip fails as caption_no_speech unless you pass authored cues, so cues are the route for a clip with no voiceover.

Placement habits

• Put the line at the start; the FTC Q&A says one at the end is easier to miss.
• Say it in the voiceover as well, so it is audible and not only visible.
• Use words from the FTC's list, not abbreviations you invented.
• Make the text large enough to read on a phone and keep it clear of platform interface zones.

Limits of this page

The guide is aimed at influencers, and who must disclose depends on the relationship. Sume does not decide whether a connection is material or whether a platform's own paid-partnership tool is also required. It burns in the text you give it.