Two Snapchat posts from Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson have been ruled to have fallen short of the necessary standard for advertising on social media.

The posts in question were placed on the app on 20 June 2017 and neither featured clear indication that Simpson was advertising the products.

The first untagged ad showed the reality TV star posing with a product from Diamond Whites up to her face. This was accompanied with text stating “50 per cent of [sic] everything from Diamond Whites. Swipe up”, along with a link to the company’s website.

Simpson has been a brand ambassador for the cosmetic teeth whitening company for nearly two years, and the company argued that – because of the length of the relationship – her followers would’ve already been aware that the post was an ad.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) didn’t agree with that notion, however, as the commercial relationship may not have been known of by all of Simpson’s followers. It ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form – something that Diamond Whites have agreed to, ensuring it will make sure ‘#ad’ is used in the future.

The second ad isn’t quite as straightforward as the first. In this ad, Simpson posted an image of herself wearing grey contact lenses, accompanied with the text “mrs grey coming soon”.

The post was in reference to the upcoming release of a new range of coloured contact lenses from ‘I Spy Eyes by Marnie Simpson’. This contact lenses brand was setup by Simpson’s management agency Unleashed PR.

In this case, the post made no explicit reference to the lenses or the I Spy Eyes brand. Unleashed PR said that, as there were no clear indications that this was an ad, it did not believe the post was misleading the customer.

Once again, the ASA didn’t agree with the company in question, and ruled that the “coming soon” implied that this was an ad. As in the previous case, Unleashed PR agreed to use ‘#ad’ in the future.

This case, and its ruling, gives rise to another problem, however. Some people may question the need to mark something as being an ad when it is your own product because, at the end of the day, you aren’t getting paid to promote it.

In both cases, Simpson has not been ordered to take any action to delete or amend the Snaps, as – with all Snapchat posts – they disappeared after 24 hours of them being posted.

The ASA does not have the power to impose fines on those that don’t adhere to advertising guidelines, but can refer repeat offenders to Trading Standards.

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