The best sentence in the video is often the one that will have to be cut. In this format you are not buying a video: you are buying sentences you did not write, and each of them is now a claim you have to be able to stand behind.
Everything the creator says is your claim
The brand carries it, not the creator
That is the point most teams discover too late: in a commercial communication, responsibility for what is said falls to the advertiser, whoever speaks the sentence. The creator improvised, but it is your brand that will have to justify the claim. That allocation is checked with a lawyer depending on the category and the country, this remaining general information.
Personal experience is not automatically safe
Saying "for me it worked in three days" sounds like a testimonial, and many teams assume that protects them. It is not that simple: a personal experience staged in an advertisement can be read as a promise of results. The question arises systematically in sensitive categories, and it is settled with a lawyer, not in the brief.
Environmental claims are where it bites hardest
That is the area where the framework has tightened most in recent years, and where spontaneous phrasings cause the most problems. A vague word used without proof, an implicit comparison, a shortcut about recyclability: those are exactly the sentences a creator naturally adds to show their support. They all get checked before release.
Give them a claim they can make
Rather than banning a word, supply the exact phrasing you can justify, with its proof. A precise, documented sentence is more convincing than a superlative, and it has the advantage of being able to stay in the video.
The categories where vigilance doubles
Seven areas where every claim is checked before shooting.
Health and wellbeing products, supplements included.
Skin products, where the border with care claims is narrow.
Food and nutrition claims.
Products for babies and children.
Environmental claims, dealt with above.
Financial products and investment services.
And anything touching on safety, including off-label uses.
How to write the list of permitted sentences
Six rules for making it genuinely useful.
Writing the sentences word for word, not themes.
Supplying more than needed, to leave a real choice.
Stating the proof behind each sentence, in one line.
Explicitly permitting the rephrasing of everything else.
Naming the person who answers questions during the shoot.
And having the list reviewed by a lawyer, once per category.
What to tell the creator before they improvise
Seven instructions, phrased positively.
What the product does, in one sentence you can prove.
What the product does not do, said plainly.
The permitted sentences, supplied as they are.
Complete freedom on tone, setting and pace.
The ban on adding any figure not supplied by the brand.
The person to contact in case of doubt, during the shoot.
And the reason for these instructions, which gets them followed far better than a rulebook.
Where to check the rules
Five sources to consult before releasing.
The regulator competent for advertising.
The sector regulator, when the category has one.
A lawyer, for the reading applied to your product.
The distribution platform's own terms, often stricter.
And your distributor's legal department, if they have one.
What to do with videos already delivered
A video containing a sentence you cannot justify is not lost: in most cases a cut, a re-edit or a voice replacement is enough to make it usable, provided the contract allows for it. That is one more reason to write, from the quote onwards, that the brand may edit and cut. If the sentence is structural and the video only exists because of it, it is better to give up paid distribution than to half-correct it.
What can be said, and on what condition
| The claim | Allowed if | Forbidden if |
|---|---|---|
| A product effect | It is proven by a document | It rests on a feeling alone |
| A comparison | It bears on a verifiable criterion | It targets a competitor without proof |
| A figure | It comes from a citable source | It comes from an estimate |
What makes a claim defensible
A dated document, a known method and a precise scope. Without those three, the claim is not false, it is simply indefensible if anyone contests it.
What varies by category
Health, finance, alcohol, supplements, childhood, environment. Each imposes its own limits, and the exact framework is confirmed with the competent authority and a lawyer before release.
What to keep as proof
Six documents to keep, systematically.
The list of permitted sentences sent to the creator.
The final approved brief, with its date.
The exchanges where the creator confirms having read the instructions.
The supporting evidence behind each claim.
The released version, archived as it is.
And the removal date, if the video is taken down.
One last marker: in this format, compliance is settled at the writing stage, not at the edit. A list of permitted sentences costs an hour and avoids the only genuinely costly thing, which is discovering after release that the best sentence in the video was the one you could not stand behind.
Sources
Checked on 27 August 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
