Advertisment
Various advertising material published on the Influencer’s Instagram account on behalf of the advertisers referred to the following:
Ad 1
The advertisement featured an image of the Influencer looking into a mirror while taking a selfie on her mobile phone. She was wearing sportswear from the Women’s Best range. The image was identified as being advertising material at the top with the following identification text: “@womensbest brand ambassador”
Ad 2
The second advertisement featured items from the Women’s Best nutritional range. The material was identified as being an advertisement at the bottom with the following identification text “@womensbest ba”
Ad 3
The third advertisement informed viewers that “…@womensbest spring sale is still live. Use my code “MONGEY” for an extra 10% off…” The material was identified at the top as being an advertisement with the following identification text “Brand ambassador”.
Complaint
Two complainants raised concerns that the advertising material in question had not been identified correctly as marketing communications and had the potential to mislead consumers.
Response
The brand did not provide a response to the complaint.
The Influencer’s management agency said they had brought the complaints to the attention of the Influencer to ensure marketing communications were appropriately identified going forward.
Conclusion
Complaints Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaints and expressed concern at the advertisers’ failure to respond to the complaints. They reminded them that there is an onus on all advertisers to ensure that their marketing communications are in conformity with the Code.
The Complaints Committee noted the Code requirements that marketing communications should be clear that they are marketing communications (3.31) and should not misrepresent their true purpose such as being presented as user-generated content (3.32). They also noted the joint guidance published by the Advertising Standards Authority and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) on disclosing advertising content, which provided that advertising content should have one of three primary labels as a disclosure; #AD, a platform provided tool or #Gifted.
The Committee noted that the advertising content had not included a primary label, and therefore considered that it had not been correctly identified as advertising material and was likely to mislead consumers about the nature of the content. The Committee considered that the advertisement was in breach of Sections 3.31, 3.32, 4.1, and 4.4 of the Code.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertising material should not appear in its current format again without the primary identification label “#AD” or the platform provided disclosure.
The complaints Committee also reminded all Influencers of the importance of identifying advertising material correctly.
