• Cookies Policy
  • ASAI and Remote Working
  • Links
  • Publications
Ph: (01) 6137040 // Email: standards@asai.ie
linkedin
twitter
  • Welcome
  • Make a complaint
    • Advertisement or Promotion
    • Online Behavioural Avertising
  • About ASAI
  • Advertising & Self Regulation
  • ASAI Code
  • Complaints Bulletins
  • News

Health & Fitness

June 12, 2019
by Seona Parker
Comments are off

Print This Post Print This Post
Bulletin: 19/3
Batch: 255
Reference: 32808
Product: Health & Fitness
Advertiser: The Hut Group (MyProtein) / OH Fitness
Influencer:
Agency:
Medium: Social Media
Codes:
ASAI Code 7th Edition: 2.4(c), 3.31, 3.32

  • Advertisement
  • Complaint
  • Response
  • Conclusion
  • Social media posts by the influencer OH Fitness featured her either wearing the brand’s clothing or discussing their products with the following content:

    Post 1:
    A photograph of OH Fitness in a gym wearing MyProtein clothing.

    Post 2:
    A photograph of OH Fitness leaning against a wall wearing MyProtein clothing.

    Post 3:
    A photograph of OH Fitness out walking. The influencer had included tags to identify the clothing as MyProtein.

  • The complainants noted that OH Fitness was a sponsored athlete for the advertisers’ MyProtein brand. As the influencer had not declared that she was a sponsored athlete in the posts where she was wearing the clothing, they considered that the posts were in breach of the Code.

  • Influencers’ Response:
    The influencer stated that the clothes she was wearing in the posts were free product from the brand and that there was no reference or allusion to the brand in the text of the posts.

    She advised that she was a sponsored athlete and gave details of the contract. As part of her contract she was to post 4 times every month for the brand, tag them in the post and explain why she liked their products.

    In response to advice from the ASAI Executive that a brand ambassador/sponsored athlete must indicate in all posts where the brand was featured or mentioned, irrespective of whether that post was part of a contractual arrangement or not, that they were a brand ambassador, the influencer stated that a requirement to include a hashtag in all posts that featured the advertisers’ products would be a problem for her as she wore their clothing every day. She advised that she was always 100% clear when a post was a marketing communication. If she was required to include a hashtag she would have to have text on all her clothing in every video or else stop posting as she considered having #ad when she was chatting to screen or showing a workout would take from the natural posting that she does.

    The influencer stated that her understanding was that a post was a marketing communication when there was payment and control. As there was no control from the advertisers on the posts in question, then they were not advertising.

    Advertisers’ Response:
    The advertisers confirmed that they had a contractual arrangement in place with the influencer and that she was one of their brand ambassadors. They provided the Executive with a copy of the contract. They stated that the posts objected to were not a part of that arrangement.

    In response to advice from the ASAI Executive that a brand ambassador/sponsored athlete must indicate in all posts where the brand was featured or mentioned, irrespective of whether that post was part of a contractual arrangement or not, that they are a brand ambassador, the advertisers offered to amend their contracts with all their ambassadors in order to ensure that influencers include an appropriate hashtag to clearly indicate that they are a sponsored athlete/brand ambassador

    The advertisers stated that they had discussed the matter at length with the influencer in this case and that she had agreed to comply with the requirement to include the hashtag sponsoredathlete or hashtag brandambassador in all brand posts, regardless of whether the posts were strictly advertisements. They said that going forward they would use all reasonable endeavours to monitor compliance with the assurances provided to them.

  • Complaints upheld.

    The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaints and both the influencers’ and the advertisers’ responses. The Committee welcomed the undertaking from the advertisers to include a requirement in their contracts to ensure clarity on posts by brand ambassadors going forward.

    The Committee considered that where an influencer was sponsored by a brand, any content that contained or referenced the brand, should be tagged appropriately, for example, by #sponsoredathlete, #brandambassador or similar, when wearing the advertisers’ clothing, discussing their products or featuring an image of their products. In the circumstances the Committee considered that the posts were in breach of Sections 3.31 and 3.32 of the Code.

    ACTION REQUIRED:
    The posts must not reappear in their current form.

    The Committee noted that the advertisers were amending their contracts with ambassadors to include a requirement that influencers must include a relevant hashtag when any of their product is featured or discussed in their social media content.

    The Committee also noted that the influencer in this case had indicated to the advertisers that she would be conforming with the requirement going forward.

Social Share

    Complaints Bulletins

    • Complaints Bulletins
      • 22/4
      • 22/3
      • 22/2
      • 22/1
      • 21/5
      • 21/4
      • 21/3
      • 21/2
      • 21/1
      • 20/6
      • 20/5
      • 20/4
      • 20/3
      • 20/2
      • 20/1
      • 19/6
      • 19/5
      • 19/4
      • 19/3
      • 19/2
      • 19/1
      • 18/5
      • 18/4
      • 18/3
      • 18/2
      • 18/1
      • 17/5
      • 17/4
      • 17/3
      • 17/2
      • 17/1
      • 16/7
      • 16/6
      • 16/5
      • 16/4
      • 16/3
      • 16/2
      • 16/1
      • 15/6
      • 15/5
      • 15/4
      • 15/3
      • 15/2
      • 15/1
      • 14/8
      • 14/7
      • 14/6
      • 14/5

    Search:


    Filter by:

    Reset

    ©ASAI 2021 // 7 Herbert Street, Dublin 2, D02 K838 // Ph: (01) 6137040
    website by smudge design
    /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Complaint_Content_Type - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: Complaint_Content_Type - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */
    This website uses cookies to improve your browsing and interactive experience. If you are happy to proceed with this, please click Accept

    If you wish read more about our cookie policy please Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT