wom in a legal catch-22?

it seems that word of mouth marketing, buzz marketing (or whatever you choose to call it) has been under scrutiny by lawyers, questioning its lack of adherence to FTC guidelines in the US. the catch-22 is that if an endorser is to profit from his/her endorsement, then it should be disclosed. but since such a disclosure undermines the very nature of buzz marketing, marketers are in a catch-22 situation. the word of mouth marketing association (womma) has responded to an ad-age article which asks "is buzz marketing legal?", reinforcing the fact that: -

word of mouth = honesty and openness

and refers readers to its code of ethics.