Welcome to part 2. The quote I’ve added in the title is actually a generic quote about MNHQ not specifically about product recommendations, but it’s very eloquent and quotable.
Here is part one: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5326652-mn-have-used-my-quote-to-promote-a-product-ive-never-bought
And here’s a brief summary so far:
- MN were caught out, allegedly acting in breach of ASA guidelines among other things
- The thread was temporarily hidden
- MN then provided a few explanation posts saying that this was a one-off cock-up and sorry that we MNers were confused
- Then we were told that in 99% of cases, the quotes refer to the specific products being featured; in a tiny minority, they are referring to a generic product category and will make that clearer
- Several users easily discovered multiple other examples, suggesting that it wasn’t just 1% of cases, or a one-off cock-up
- MN went on an editing spree of their swears by/recommendations sections (editing about 64 out of 75 things), also suggesting it’s not just 1% or an isolated cock-up
- The thread largely disappeared from active and trending, suggesting it’s been suppressed
- MN says it hasn’t been suppressed, threads appear in active based on popularity and how new they are
- Another MN source shows that they do sometimes remove threads from active to give them a chance to “calm down”
Please feel free to use this thread to capture any other examples you find, to update on anything you hear back from ASA, to provide your own professional or common sense input.
If you don’t agree, it’s probably not the thread for you so please feel free to pass on by! An issue doesn’t have to be the most pressing matter of our times to be important, and I think it’s important that trusted brands don’t mislead consumers.