Sarah Palin Is Doing "Skinny Tea" #SponCon Now & What Is Happening

It's been a few years since Sarah Palin was really been a true player on the American political scene. After losing the 2008 election as Sen. John McCain's running mate, she quickly resigned from her post as Alaska's governor, entering a private life as a conservative celebrity and reality TV personality. And now, apparently, she's now a social media promoter: Sarah Palin is promoting "skinny tea" on Instagram now, in what appears to be a new gig for the former vice presidential candidate.

In a post to her more than 25,000 followers on the photo-sharing platform on Friday, Palin trumpeted the virtues of a brand of skinny tea from the company Teami Blends, complete with her own last name as a discount code for 15 percent off. The caption on the Instagram image reads as follows ― she concluded the post with a hashtag, #thankyouteami.

As a busy 🏒mom I need all the energy I can get, but coffee makes me crash mid-day and I dread feeling sluggish (and sometimes not so super kid-friendly 🤣!). After visiting Bristol recently, she raved about the @teamiblends skinny tea that she swears by and has been using forever, so I gave the teas a shot - Amazing! My new coffee replacement for a few weeks now! I travel a lot, plus we do so many outdoor activities requiring lots of energy - the teas help and actually let me keep up with Trig 🏃 It’s easy to take the tea everywhere after filling up my tumbler in the morning. So easy! No need to add sugar because it’s so good 😘 You can use code PALIN for 15% off your order!

As shown in the image, Palin is also holding a bottle full of the tea with Teami's logo on it. This isn't the first time the 54-year-old former governor has pursued a commercial interest since leaving politics — back in 2014 she launched her own subscription-based online news channel, although it only survived for slightly less than one year before being closed.

There are rules about posting promoted content to social media. Specifically, the Federal Trade Commission requires that social media influencers "clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting or endorsing products through social media." Bustle has reached out to Teami for comment.

According to CNN, Teami social media manager Carly Halvin declined to answer whether Paln was a paid endorser of their products, but replied that the Palin family have been Teami consumers for some time.

"Sarah Palin has been a customer of our brand since 2016," Halvin reportedly told CNN. "Her and her family all use and love Teami Blends. We are very lucky that she chose to share her Teami experience with her audience."

Teami's official website describes its tea as boosting metabolism and energy without creating a "laxative effect." So-called skinny or detox teas, as Teen Vogue detailed in 2016, can often cause diarrhea and stomach pain.

It remains unclear whether Palin was paid for the online endorsement of the teas, although including her own name as a promotion code was certainly suggestive. Palin has not held political office, or mounted any kind of run to attempt a return to the world of elected office, since resigning as Alaska's governor in July of 2009.

She did repeatedly tease potential presidential runs in 2012 and 2016, however, although she ultimately never jumped into the respective races, and ultimately endorsed President Donald Trump in 2016. She also netted millions of dollars through her political action committee, SarahPAC, which launched in 2011 and officially shut down in 2017.