Melbourne fashion brand Eliya The Label has been caught in an Ad Standards review after a complaint was made over an influencer’s Instagram post, with the complainant alleging it should have been disclosed as advertising.
The case centred on a post by influencer Alexandra Ritter (@alexandra.e.style), who wrote about attending Eliya The Label's autumn-winter launch. The post tagged the brand and included the caption: "The most incredible Winter collection and amazing evening from @eliyathelabel."
A complainant argued the influencer must have received free clothing, payment or hospitality at the event, but that the post carried no clear identifier such as "Paid Partnership" or hashtags including #Ad, #PaidPromotion, #Sponsored or #CommercialPartnership.
In its response, Eliya The Label confirmed the content was not part of a paid campaign, sponsorship or commissioned advertisement, and that there was no contractual agreement or commercial arrangement with Ritter, and no obligation for her to post.
The brand added that it did not provide posting instructions, talking points, captions, content direction, approval processes, timelines or mandatory deliverables, and had no control over the wording, timing, format or publication of the content.
“The Instagram content was independently created and voluntarily shared by Alexandra Ritter at her own discretion as organic social media content reflecting her personal opinions and experiences,” the brand told Ad Standards. “Accordingly, Eliya The Label does not consider the content to constitute advertising material requiring disclosure under Section 2.7 of the AANA Code of Ethics.
“Notwithstanding the above, Eliya The Label understands the importance of transparency in influencer and social media communications and will continue to encourage appropriate disclosure practices where formal commercial partnerships exist.”
Despite accepting the advertiser's account that there was no formal agreement, an Ad Standards community panel found the post still met the Code's definition of advertising.
It noted that inviting known influencers to a launch event could create an anticipation they would post about it, even without payment, and that access to such an event could itself constitute a form of consideration.
The panel also pointed to the Code's wording that payment is not a prerequisite for content to be considered advertising.
The panel further noted that because the post tagged the brand, Eliya The Label would have been aware of it and could have asked for it to be withdrawn if it wished.
Having found the post met the definition of advertising, the Panel then considered whether it was clearly distinguishable as such.
It found that the repeated use of the brand's name, its tagged handle, and language clearly promoting the brand and the launch event meant the post was clearly distinguishable as advertising, even without a specific disclosure label.
As a result, the panel found no breach of section 2.7, and no breach of any other section of the advertising codes.