Health and Beauty

The complainants said the marketing communications had not been identified correctly. They said the primary advertisement identification label #Ad had not been placed as required before the block text.

Brand:
The advertisers said they took the issues raised very seriously. Upon reviewing the complaints, they said they wanted to clarify that all individuals who viewed the Instagram story frames would have done so in continuity. The first frame of the story, they said, had included the disclosure of “#ad,” which ensured that viewers were informed from the outset that the content they were viewing was a paid promotion.

The advertisers acknowledged, however, that to avoid any potential confusion or misunderstanding, they understood that it was essential for the “#Ad” label to be clearly visible on each frame of the story and republished material. They said they understood the importance of adhering to the Code of Standards for Advertising and Marketing Communications in Ireland and were committed to ensuring full compliance moving forward.

The advertisers also said it was worth noting that their current influencer agreements already included a clause specifically addressing ad disclosure. The clause stated the following:
“Ad disclosure: Please make sure to include a visible disclosure that your content is an advert, as determined by the regulations of the Advertising Standards Authority. ‘AD’ must be clearly visible on all frames.”

In conclusion, the advertisers said they were now revising their influencer briefing process to emphasise and ensure that influencers were aware that the ‘#Ad’ label was present on screen, and the first word in any block of text throughout a Story, to a prominent scale and positioned against a darker part of the video background to ensure legibility on screen.

Influencer’s agency:
The Influencer’s management agency said they wanted to emphasise that both the Influencer, as an online influencer, and their agency took the responsibility of full advertising disclosure very seriously. They considered this commitment was evident in the Influencer’s consistent use of clear ad disclosures across the referenced content. In conclusion they said the Influencer remained fully committed to maintaining the highest level of professionalism and was more than willing to comply with ASA guidelines and there had been absolutely no intention on her part to be non-compliant.

Complaints Upheld.

The Complaints Council considered the details of the complaints, and the responses received from the advertisers and the influencer’s agency.

The Council 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. Reposted content should also contain a primary label.

The Council noted that while the text “Ad” had appeared in two images from the story, the correct disclosure was ‘#Ad’. In addition, they noted that the requirement for stories was that the disclosure should appear on each frame.

In the circumstances, the Council considered the advertising to be 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 the same format again.

The Council reminded all parties to ensure that commercial marketing communications on social media were disclosed correctly.