YouTube star and influencer Zoe Sugg has been warned by the UK advertising watchdog after an Instagram post was found to have breached advertising standards guidelines.
The beauty and lifestyle vlogger, also known as Zoella, featured a story on her Instagram account in July 2019 in which she wore a floral dress by clothing brand Asos.
Social media influencers are required to indicate clearly that they are being paid by a company to market their products – often by including the hashtag #ad in posts.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that Sugg did not make clear that the post, which lasted for five seconds on her Instagram story, was for marketing purposes.
Her story read: “Lots of you loving the dress I’m wearing in my newest photos!…it’s from @missselfridge Swipe up to shop… (Also popped it on my @liketoknowit profile if you’d rather shop straight from the app).”
She also included the word “*affiliate” at the bottom of the image, but this was obscured by the direct message, and swiping up on the story took users to a product page on the Asos website.
Asos said that it did not have any direct input or advance knowledge of the Instagram story in question, but acknowledged the marketing affiliation was not obvious enough.
The ASA ordered that such an ad must not appear again in the form complained about and that future posts by Sugg should make her affiliate links obvious and upfront by including more prominent tags.
