Carl Woods Instagram posts banned for failing to include ad disclosure

The advertising watchdog has banned influencer Carl Woods’ posts for clothing brand Engage after failing to disclose that they were advertisements.

Woods, the boyfriend of former glamor model Katie Price, wore the “gift” of a t-shirt emblazoned with Engage for free to help the “little start-up brand,” the label said.

Engage said there was no deal in place with Woods, but asked his reps if he could send him t-shirts and that he could post while wearing them if he liked them .

Engage said it was not aware of the ad labeling requirements.

Representatives from Woods told the ASA that they did not realize that posts like this needed to be tagged, which is why the post did not include the tag “paid partnership” as it was. case with its other advertising campaigns.

The Instagram story on the @carljwoods Instagram page, seen on March 5, read: “Glad to report that I have partnered with @Engage_Clothing”, along with a thumbs-up emoji.

He continued: “A new start-up brand that will do very well! Please follow up with them! ”

Another post from March 31st featured Woods wearing a black Engage branded t-shirt on the front, with the text below saying, “My friends at @Engage_Clothing are dropping off that black COOL t-shirt tonight at 8pm!” Click on the link in my bio… #Wednesday #MustHaves #NewReleases #RushToBuy #NewCollection #EngageClothing #Tee »

The ASA said Engage Clothing had sufficient control over the content of social media posts, along with payment to Mr Woods, for them to be considered advertisements.

The ASA said: “We understood that the branded T-shirts were not requested by Mr. Woods from Engage, but were sent to him as a result of prior communication between them and his representatives, agreeing that if he liked the product, he would wear it and post it about it. ”We considered sending Mr. Woods T-shirts as a gift as payment for him.

“Because the messages were not clearly identifiable as marketing communications, we concluded that they violated the Code.”

The ASA has ruled that the advertisements should no longer appear, adding: “We have asked Engage Clothing UK and Carl Woods to ensure that in the future their advertisements are clearly identifiable as marketing communications, and that identifiers such as #ad are clearly and prominently.