From the founder
Ads should earn trust. Not demand it.
A personal reason to build a practical resource for people who want advertising claims backed by facts.
The reason I built this.
I kept seeing TikTok promotions for products with confident claims and very little evidence. Some came from influencers, some from resellers, and some from brands themselves.
I’m James E. Hamelton Jr., a software engineer, web developer, and published author. I spend a lot of time checking whether technology does what its marketing says it does. So I started asking specific questions under promotional videos. In one exchange, a creator dismissed my concern with “I’m just a creator.”
“Just a creator” is not a free pass to mislead people.
People can make honest mistakes, and a suspicious claim is not automatically a legal violation. But promoting a product carries responsibility. The FTC tells influencers to disclose relevant brand relationships and comply with laws against deceptive advertising. Advertising claims must be truthful and supported by evidence.
I created this site to make it easier to preserve an ad, check the exact promise, and file a useful report. I want viewers to have more than a comment thread when they encounter a claim that doesn’t hold up.
Two sites. One standard.
Report Fake Ads helps people understand and report questionable advertising. My companion project, Proof of Purchase, will focus on hands-on testing and independent product reviews. Together they put the advertised promise beside real evidence.
A record is harder to dismiss.
Well-documented reports can help platforms review content and help the FTC identify patterns. Reports do not guarantee an investigation or removal, but each factual account can add to the picture. The goal is fewer people misled and more accountability for those profiting from advertising.