Complaint Against Irish Blogger Upheld By ASAI This Month

An Irish blogger has had a complaint upheld by the ASAI this month.

The complaint was in relation to an Instagram post by Irish blogger, Faces by Grace, where she advertised a product by Boots pharmacy but did not disclose the partnership with the required hashtag.

The ASAI said: "The complaint considered that it was clear from the post that the influencer was working for Boots Ireland and expressed concern that the post had not been hashtagged accordingly with #sp."

The post which is no longer available appeared with the text, "NEW POST!!! ANYONE ELSE FORGET THEIR BOOTS ADVANTAGE CARD WHEN SHOPPING? NOW YOU WILL NEVER MISS OUT ON POINTS!

COMMENT ON MY LATEST PICTURE AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU BUY MOST OFTEN IN BOOTS!”

Beneath the text, an image of a baby’s feet appeared. This image was accompanied by the caption “Tiny Toes” and an emoji with heart-shaped eyes and a smiley face

Viewers were then invited to:

“Swipe up to download the app. See More”.

Boots said that before the posts went live, their PR agency had provided a briefing document to the influencer. This included the detail of the promotion, and also a request for the inclusion of #sp or #ad on all posts. They said a link to the ASAI Guidelines had also been provided to the Influencer at that point in time.

They said further to the briefing document, the PR agency had a briefing call with the Influencer and her agent to discuss the document and clarify any outstanding queries.

Grace said she forgot to use the required hashtag and that it had been " a case of human error" and she apologised for any confusion caused.

This isn't the first time the blogger has had a complaint upheld by the ASAI. Last year, she didn't use the proper hashtag for a collaboration with a detox tea called Miss Fit Skinny Tea.

Another complaint against social media personality, Andrew Beatty Fitness, was upheld.

The complaint referred to a misleading free offer which advertised a "FREE Limerick 6 Week Challenge -Register now for free."

The complainant viewed the offer and after signing up for the offer she attended the gym to register. She was advised that she would have to pay €500 which she would then get back at the end of the six weeks programme if she successfully completed the challenge. The complainant asked if she could have time to think about the offer but was told she had to sign up there and then.

The complainant said that after signing a contract and asking for a copy of it, she was told that she would have to take a photograph. Finally, she said that she was also asked to sign up for a monthly charge of €247.

There has since been an amendment to the advert disclosing the required deposit.

The ASAI ruled that while noted the amendment, they still advertised it as free when really it was a "money-back" offer.

The Complaints Committee told the advertiser to remove the reference to ‘free’ unless the challenge was offered free to respondents without the requirement of a deposit or similar payment.

Other complaints that were upheld were against Ryanair for "Decency & Propriety/Violence and Anti-Social Behaviour/Alcohol.

The complainant considered the advertisement to normalise and encourage drunken behaviour and engage in harmful levels of alcohol consumption. The ad depicted an apparently drunk young male lying on a beach on his side, as if asleep, with his head supported on his elbow, lying beside an unidentified clear glass bottle. The text to accompany the image explained to Leaving Cert and A-Level students that “this could be you” and to book a holiday on Ryanair.com in between “studying”.

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