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Bulletin: 18/5
Batch: 252
Reference: 31780
Product: Clothing (Adult)
Advertiser: Faces By Grace
Agency:
Medium: Internet (Company Website)
ASAI Code 7th Edition: 2.4(c), 3.31, 3.32
The advertising in blog format on the homepage of the influencer’s website facesbygrace.com referred to the following:
“FACES BY GRACE (Influencer’s name)
Everyday Inspired – What’s on trend right now!
Hey Dolls,
Hope you’re all well! A lot of you have been enjoying recent fashion posts over here on FacesbyGrace.com which is great! If you missed them, check out some recent posts…Since we are approaching the weekend, sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy flicking through the latest trendy best buys!”
The above text was followed with a series of models in various poses wearing different styles and trends.
The blog ended with:
“Happy shopping …”
The complainant said that the posts in question had not been identified as advertising material. She said that some of the posts should have been identified as having rewardStyle affiliate links and this had not been the case in this instance.
The Influencer apologised for the error which had occurred and amended her mistake. She said it had been a human error and she had completely forgotten to add the disclaimer. She said she had gone back on previous posts to make sure the disclaimer was on them all.
Complaint Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee accepted that while human error may have given rise to what had happened in this case, that nevertheless, the onus was on all advertisers including influencers to ensure that all marketing communications were clearly identifiable as such to consumers prior to them engaging with the content.
As the posts had not been identified as advertising material the Committee concluded that the advertising had breached Sections 3.31 and 3.32 of the Code.
ACTION REQUIRED:
As the advertising had been amended no further action was required in this case.The Committee, however, reminded all advertisers, including influencers, that in the interest of clarity it was essential that they clearly identify all marketing communications as such.