LAST August, Britt Aboutaleb, a New York-based blogger, wrote a post for Fashionista.com, a beauty and fashion Web site, about her visit to a Gap store where “cute boys” served her coffee while Patrick Robinson, the Gap’s lead designer, helped her select a pair of jeans. It was unclear whether Ms. Aboutaleb had received the $69 jeans free, but some readers’ antennae were raised.
In comments about her post, they accused her of being intentionally vague. But her online response to the comments was anything but vague: “How is it less than crystal clear that I went intending to walk away with gifted jeans? Must I put FREE in the title?”
According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines announced last week, the answer is — or soon will be — “yes.”
Read more of the article by Kayleen Schaefer on the New York Times site.