Can we chat about fashion Instagrammers/influencers..

[Cherrypie32]

..because I don’t have anyone in real life to carp about it to. So, I follow a few, am addicted to the stories/feeds of some but don’t always know why. The ‘high end’ ones, The Frugality, Dress Like A Mum, Emma Hill etc pop up but quite designer and high end for me. I like the ramblings of Does My Bum but I’m nothing like her body shape so don’t wear her clothes. There are a few more ‘high street’ ones I follow, Steal My Style, What Kathy Did, Forty not Frumpy and more but they tend to be repetitive. Is this because they are so heavily sponsored to flog something? At the moment they are all banging on bout All Saints leather bikers and maxi skirts. And they all copy each other so there’s not much new to look at. There are a few I follow with nowhere near the amount of followers that seem more creative and have different body shapes so I presume that they have more liberty to do this as aren’t under afflilate deals.
I don’t need advice to ‘unfollow’, I enjoy looking at it all, just interested in how it all works really.

The beeb featured this list below - seems pretty clear to me. That Maldives example would fall foul unless in every post she is marking it #ad and #gift upfront and making clear in every post that she is being paid/freebied to be there posting.

What are the rules?

• influencers must clearly label content that has been paid-for or for which they have received gifts or loans. #ad or #sponsored are examples, and must now be prominently displayed at the beginning of the post, rather than buried away among other hashtags
• even gifts that are made without a requirement to post about them afterwards must be declared if they appear in social media content. #freebie is suggested as a label
• it is no longer enough for influencers to declare the companies they work for in their profile. Each post must be treated in isolation and all paid-content or commercial relationships declared
• if an influencer is engaged in various commercial relationships related to an individual post, each one must be declared

FANTINE2 I don’t know who any of the people you mention are. I’m sure as well bloggers who make money from it, there are some who don’t need to & some who get into debt.

didn’t even consider refunding! so that too.

@fancynancyclancy to be frank as a mother of tweens I'm more concerned about suicide and self harm posts. The fact that M&S ads and others are appearing alongside them is horrifying. My daughters 'explore' page has many 'depression' accounts popping up that target younger users. So I'm extremely vigilant about that as opposed to a sponsored post which is harmless.

so you see no link between sponsored diet posts/airbrushed photos/people presenting a perfectly edited version of their lives/haul videos & mental health?

Dmbl40 has asked a question on her feed, should gifts be tagged as ads? She says that it could muddy the waters and everything would appear as ads which would make a real paid for ad lose its value of having the tag. I think the answer is completely obvious. If a company sends something to you for free, they are surely hoping to get something out of it, ie that other people will buy it, then it is an ad!
What else is it?? Only friends and family send actual gifts.
Companies sending gifts is advertising

fancy, absolutely agree that influencers can negatively affect mental health. It should be obvious to anyone who has spent any time looking at influencers

And while I’m on a roll, the term influencers?! Influencing people to do what? Be like you? Wear what you wear? Do what you do? All of the above. It’s such a sinister term, I hate it

Just catching up on this thread. I see #gift as PR - the person is not obliged to review the item at all, or to say nice things about it, but obviously that’s what the brand wants. Essentially the same as editorial coverage in print media - but then of course, editorial and advertising spend are linked. #ad is paid-for media space, guaranteed, and guaranteed to be positive, often incorporating specific key messages the brand wants, and copy approval prior to publishing.

I think keeping on top of INsta Stories and affiliate link disclosure there would be a massive headache since they are short-lived. I also think the ASA has always relied on the public complaining before carrying out any investigations (on all media) which is why the influencers have got away with it for so long - no-one is going to shop someone they see as “a friend”, are they?

I would think it was complete obvious 🤷‍♀️ Tootrousers, imo the influencers principal job is to make people buy stuff.

Agree fancy. I would say the only purpose is to make us buy things. And how do they do that? By making people feel inadequate. Tried and tested Sales technique for any product is to make people that without it their life isn’t good enough, or that there is some risk to them if they don’t have it. How can this be anything but negative for mental Health.

And I think we can all relate to it. That pair of shoes that will complete every outfit but they don’t in reality. That bag that you will use every day and will make you happy but it doesn’t and you don’t. Until we stop thinking that possessions make us happy, this Instagram world will thrive.
I’m ranting now, sorry

Sorry I haven't read the entire 19 pages, so sorry if it's been asked, are these EU rules? None of the American girls on IG that I follow ever use #ad on their accounts, which seems so strange.

@Mrs9C I've made that point - it's a global platform with global users and global brands, but UK legislation- seems it should impact everyone.

Thanks for your reply @ToBeClear. Yes, absolutely, a global platform, I agree it should impact everyone.

how will the ASA be able to prove that a post is an #ad or #gift though, and not bought by the influencer?

Shop receipt?

Sorry, I mean no receipt, then it's gifted, or an ad?

That seems hard in practice though - especially retrospectively.

What if a blogger can't produce a receipt for a pair of jeans they bought a few years ago because they had no idea then that they would ever have to prove the jeans weren't a gift?

What if the jeans were an actual gift from a family member?

I imagine that this will not be done retrospectively, but will go on from now. So if you are an influencer, and you buy clothes yourself, you keep the receipts/emails. It's not that hard. Business people have to keep track of their receipts for tax purposes or whatever all the time.

No, I appreciate the rules won't apply to old posts.

I mean that many influencers will surely post photos of themselves in the future featuring clothes that they purchased months or years ago. How can they prove that any of those older products weren't gifts?

Bank statements?

Credit card statements?

Shouldn't be that difficult.

ToBeClear your global argument seems to be that "no one else is doing it so why should I?" which is a pretty daft one. It would be a brave or stupid influencer that tries that argument with the CMA if they come knocking. It is very simple, if you are running a UK business or generating income in the UK then you must follow UK law.

The CMA have said they are next going to tackle this at a platform level, which may introduce some global consistency. But until then, if you are carrying out business in the UK you need to adhere to the laws in the UK or face fines/prison.

German law has already changed practices in Germany, other countries are bound to follow. This is a good read on why German bloggers tag everything as an advert. The courts ruled that "Social media posts of influencers are always a commercial activity and can never be merely private. Even if her posts are not sponsored, she still aims to maintain and increase her base of followers." This goes even further than UK law, I think.

www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=12d4d756-d753-4d0e-be47-4fd70c62acad

My bank statements only show I spent X amount in a particular shop - not what specific items I purchased.

I'm not trying to be pedantic or difficult. I do just genuinely think it would be quite hard to prove that I purchased every item I'm wearing.

Ah yes, I see. I think to start with at least ASA would look at the worst offenders and would be able to get a feel for the extent to which they are flouting the rules iyswim? If someone is pretty good about declaring (and I guess ASA would be able to investigate if paid partnerships were being made or gifts were being sent undeclared wouldn't they... Would they be allowed to look at posting records, correspondence etc I don't know actually?) , they would largely be left alone.

If the clothes are from previous seasons (again presumably this can be investigated?) then maybe they would be left out?

In short, I don't have a clue really! But I do think that there is a lot they could do to come down harder. This is an entirely new domain being formed as we watch, so obviously the processes for making the rules will evolve.

I agree with the poster upthread who said that one day, probably not too far away, Instagram and this advertising model, will be a distant memory, and people will have sold their kids lives online for nothing.