Model Nikki Phillips becomes the latest influencer to breach the Ad Standards code of ethics with her Magnum sponsored post
Model Nikki Phillips is the latest influencer to breach Ad Standards after she created a sponsored post for Unilever’s Magnum ice cream.
The 38-year-old had complaints lodged against her for tagging #MAGNUMluxegOLD, but failing to disclose her relationship with Unilever in a May 7 post.
The breach comes as advertising rules were updated in February by the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Code of Ethics’.
Oh dear: Model Nikki Phillips is the latest influencer to breach Ad Standards after she created a sponsored post for Unilever’s Magnum ice cream
The body pursued the breach and said that ‘Influencer and affiliate marketing often appears alongside organic/genuine user-generated content and is often less obvious to the audience.’
Nikki has since amended the post with the ‘#ad’ hashtag, while her client Unilever admitted that the post did not comply under the new rules.
‘We acknowledge that the post was not compliant as the relationship between Unilever and the influencer was not clear,’ said the consumer goods company.
They continued, ‘we apologise for this non-compliance and have advised Nikki Phillips to edit the post clearly to highlight that it is a sponsored post.’
Fixed!: Nikki has since amended the post with the ‘#ad’ hashtag, while her client Unilever admitted that the post did not comply under the new rules
The code, which was updated on February 1, forces influencers to disclose partnerships and advertisement deals on posts transparently by adding #ad or #sponsored, or other distinct markers.
‘The relationship must be clear, obvious and upfront to the audience and expressed in a way that is easily understood,’ reaffirmed the Ad Standards panel in relation to the Nikki Phillips’ post.
A recent analysis by Hypeauditor on 2,548 Australian influencer posts that were sponsored found almost half did not disclose or use the appropriate hashtags to distinguish partnered advertisements.
The new rules in place: The code forces influencers to disclose partnerships and advertisement deals on posts. Other posts from Nikki Williams’ Instagram use the #sp tag, which the AANA says ‘may not be sufficient’
Bachelor star Anna Heinrich was the first influencer to have been busted breaching the code when her post for clothing brand Runaway The Label wasn’t clearly noted as an advert.
Anna made the post on February 11, just 10 days after AANA’s updated Code of Ethics came into effect.
Her manager claimed he wasn’t informed about Ad Standards’ concerns initially, whereupon the post was immediately amended and now has a ‘paid collaboration with’ disclaimer at the top.
The first breach: Bachelor star Anna Heinrich was the first influencer to have been busted breaching the code when her post for clothing brand Runaway The Label wasn’t clearly noted as an advert