The Top 3 Worst Influencer Promotions

Jack Rogers

This week Geordie Shore’s Charlotte Crosby joined the Advertising Standards Authority’s infamous ‘named and shamed’ list after repeatedly failing to be “upfront and clear when her social media posts are ads”. She joins a notable list that includes Amber Gill, Jodie Marsh and Lucy Mecklenburgh. There are also those influencers who also fail to follow the rules when giving away prizes and to illustrate we’ve pulled together the top 3 worst influencer promotions (in our opinion!).

Credit: Fashion Network

#3 – Jemma Lucy

Jemma’s misconduct was slightly different from the rest. Her promotion was flagged not for an uncompliant promotion but instead for ‘promoting an unsafe practice’. The post was as a favour for a friend in which she was giving away a free sample of there sliming coffee to anyone who used the link in the post. The issue arose that in the photo which accompanied it picture her pregnant and spoke of how she loses weight drinking the product which of course was seen as irresponsible and unsafe by the ASA and she was banned accordingly as it was seen to be encouraging others to do the same.

#2 – Molly Mae Hague

Love Island star Molly Mae came under fire in 2021 when she ran a prize draw to boost the awareness of her tanning brand but failed to run it in a compliant manner. When she posted the chance on her Instagram to win £8,000 worth of Louis Vuitton products over 2 million people entered thinking they would be with a chance to win.

In order to do so participants had to like the post, tag a friend, subscribe to her YouTube channel and follow her tanning brand on Instagram. A extra entry could then be received if they were to share the post on their Instagram story.

However, when it then came to the entry deadline, Molly selected just 25 names out of millions of entries to put into a random number generator to pick the winner – this process earned her the ASA Ruling for not administering her prize draw correctly or fairly.

#1 – Stephen Bear

Meanwhile, Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen Bear received an ASA ruling after he broke the rules relating to the running of prize draws. He posted a series of videos on his YouTube channel promoting a £10,000 giveaway. To enter, viewers simply had Like the video, subscribe to the channel and then post the number of kick ups he performed on Instagram, but a complaint was made challenging whether the promotion was administered fairly and if the prize was awarded to a genuine entrant in accordance with the laws of chance.

In the videos Bear clearly fails to comply with basic CAP Code promotion rules by selecting the winner himself – he asked his father to scroll through the entries on his phone until he shouted ‘Stop!’ on camera. His lack of response and disregard for the CAP Code was also noted in the Ruling and we expect to see him grace the ASA’s wall of shame any day soon!

How to avoid being in the ASA or the CMA’s bad books?

Training – get some expert training and guidance on what the key rules to follow are and how to select the right Influencer.

Due Diligence – do thorough background checks on potential influencer talent.

Guidelines – create a clear framework for both the brand and the influencer to work within that is clear about what the rules are and how to follow them.

Contracts – don’t ignore this vital element. It controls the dialogue and determines the responsibilities of both parties. It needs to be drafted by someone with relevant experience, not just a rehash of an old media contract.

Check – always review copy for a post ahead of publication to ensure it doesn’t breach the rules and carry out spot checks to ensure the influencer is sticking to them.

Prizes – Any prize promotion, giveaway or contest must be administered by independent verification experts like PromoVeritas – that means your influencer cannot choose the winners!

This event is now over. To watch a recording or find out more about our range of Influencer Marketing Services contact info@promoveritas.com.