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Bulletin: 21/3
Batch: 271
Reference: 37289
Product: Health & Beauty
Advertiser: BPerfect Cosmetics
Influencer:
Agency:
Medium: Internet (Social Media)
Codes:
ASAI Code 7th Edition: 2.4(c), 3.31, 3.32, 4.1, 4.4
A story on the influencer’s Instagram account featured the influencer applying BPerfect products. The following captions were displayed throughout the story:
“@bperfectcosmetics”
“@bperfectbrendan”
“Finished look
Swipe to view website”
Two complaints were received regarding the story. The complainants considered the story to be misleading as it was not marked as a marketing communication at any point in the story.
The brand said that the influencer was a new brand ambassador and the post in question was her first post. They said the influencer was contracted for a one-off post in November for Cyber1 grid post, to which she applied the #ad, and forgot to add to stories as the post directed followers to stories. They said that in all influencer’s posts she was very open with her followers, detailing in great length that she was brand ambassador now and applying the requirements on marketing on posts. They said this was an error and would not happen again.
The influencer said that this was a genuine error and she apologised for it. She said that she took her responsibilities very seriously when posting and was honest and open when doing so. She said that she believed that it was important to be truthful when posting, firstly for the sake of good personal ethics but also not to mislead followers. She said that she wished to assure the ASAI that this would not happen again.
Complaints upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaints, and the influencers and advertisers’ response, including the details of their relationship with the influencer as their Brand Ambassador.
The Committee considered that where an influencer was sponsored by a brand, any content that contained or referenced the brand in any way, should be tagged appropriately, for example, by #brandambassador, #ad or similar .
In the circumstances, the Committee concluded that the advertisement was in breach of Code sections 3.31 and 3.32.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement should not appear in the current form again.
The Committee reminded all involved in the creation of marketing communications of the importance of ensuring that all marketing communications were recognisable as such.