Bulletin

August 2021 #134

Under the influence

Influencer marketing has become a go-to promotional tactic for brands, especially on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. However there still seems to be some misunderstanding about the rules for disclosing advertising content.

Consumers shouldn’t have to play detective to work out whether something is an ad. This month, the Ad Standards Community Panel have looked at some of the best (and worst) examples of compliance with the distinguishable advertising rules.

Cases that have played by the #ad rules

The Ad Standards Community Panel has looked at a number of ads this year and determined that they did, in fact, follow the distinguishable advertising rules.

In June, the Community Panel dismissed complaints against an influencer’s post showing a TV commercial for a tourism brand they had starred in. The post didn’t use #ad or #sponsored but the caption made it clear that the video was a TV ad. The Panel determined this clearly indicated to the audience that the post was created in collaboration with the brand.

In July, an influencer’s YouTube video mentioning a home interiors brand was found not to be an ad by the Community Panel. While the influencer had a previous relationship with the brand, which they referred to in the video, they didn’t feature the brand’s products in order to promote the brand or product.

Cases that have missed the mark

A number of advertisers have failed to follow the rules around distinguishable advertising in the last few months. It’s important for advertisers to ensure the influencers they’ve engaged to promote their products and brand understand the disclosure requirements.

In August, the Panel determined that an influencer’s post on TikTok for a laser hair removal brand failed to disclose their commercial relationship with the brand to their followers. The ad was also posted on Instagram and correctly tagged with #Ad on that platform. The Panel determined that while the TikTok post was not part of the formal agreement with the brand, the content was not created without incentive and was still an ad requiring disclosure. 

A luxury car brand was also found to break the rules after an influencer who was a ‘friend of the brand’ failed to disclose their arrangement in an Instagram post featuring one of the brands’ cars. The Panel noted that while there was no contractual agreement to post about the car, the nature of the relationship meant that the brand still had reasonable control over the post which clearly promoted their product.

In a different case, the Community Panel upheld a complaint against a brand for not clearly disclosing a partnership with an influencer. While the influencer had tagged the image with #Collab in their Instagram Story, they had done so in white text on a white background, making it very difficult to see and read. The Panel determined that the disclosure was not clearly identifiable and that the hashtag itself was not sufficient to clearly distinguish the post as an ad.

You can find all determinations from the Ad Standards Community Panel online at AdStandards.com.au/cases

Updates to the AiMCO Code of Practice

Earlier this year, Ad Standards took part in conversations with the Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) around the updates to their Influencer Code of Practice and new Guide to Gifting and Ad Disclosure.

We’re pleased to see the decisions of the Ad Standards Community Panel reflected in these changes and look forward to continuing our support for Australia’s influencer marketing industry alongside AiMCO.