ASA continues crackdown on influencer #ads as Love Island's Luke M is the latest to fall foul of advertising rules

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has ruled that a TikTok video posted by Love Island's Luke M breached the CAP Code for failing to be obviously identifiable as an ad. The video showed Luke M wearing two different outfits with the quotes "Which do you prefer" and "Outfit from boohooman #boohooman". The ruling is one in a long line concerning the posts of social media influencers. In this case Luke M's TikTok post failed to include #Ad so the ASA was quick to find that the post failed to make clear to consumers that it was an ad in breach of the Code.  

The outcome is not surprising as tagging posts with #Ad is the minimum expectation for social media ads. However, the decision serves as a useful reminder to brands that both influencers and brands will be jointly responsible for ensuring promotional activity complies with the CAP Code. The decision also illustrates that brands cannot rely on contracts with influencers to insulate themselves from responsibility for compliance with advertising rules. In response to the complaint Boohoo.com referred to its contractual relationship with Luke M and the contractual terms requiring Luke M to ensure all social media posts were obviously identifiable to consumers as ads. However, that did not stop the ASA from finding Boohoo.com jointly responsible for ensuring that the promotional activity of Luke M was compliant with the CAP Code. 

See the full ruling here.