Recruitment campaign silver/gold feathers?

Not sure if this has been discussed, but does anyone know anything specific about this? Has anything been said about this, apart from the very vague mentions in live letters and on the actual promo site?

I'm asking this because I think it's more than a little confusing, and more than a little overcomplicated. I understand tiers to the campaign itself alright. What I don't understand is why a friend of mine who's subbed via my code, and just reactivated the subscription this week (after being away for months) has been able to /fistbump me for days, and already received the silver feathers and could even exchange it for items. While at the same time, I don't even have the emote, nevermind the feathers.

It would be nice to have detailed information about all this, maybe, if not making the whole thing simpler?

Gold rewards should be delivered by the 30th.