Former Love Island host Laura Whitmore has landed in hot water after promoting unsuitable ads for a booze company she part owns.
The Co Wicklow presenter was plugging drinks from the Muff Liquor Company which is Irish owned and she has shares in. Whitmore, 37, is also seen in a TikTok post shaking her bottom and dancing seductively as she drinks the booze.
The same clip was posted on Instagram. Although she tagged the post #muffboss and #irishowned, the Advertising Standards Authority said this was not enough for people to realise it was an ad. An ASA spokesperson said: “Both posts seen on July 2, 2022, featured Ms Whitmore drinking four different beverages whilst dancing.
Read more: Laura Whitmore hits out at Love Island and gives real reason she quit host role
"The first drink was Peppermint Tea and featured Ms Whitmore slowly moving her legs whilst drinking from a mug. Ms Whitmore then drank the other three beverages: Water, Beer and Muff & Tonic. Whilst drinking each drink in turn, Ms Whitmore’s dancing became increasingly more energetic.
“Music in the background included the lyrics ‘I’ll be f***ed up if you can’t be right here’.” By implying that alcohol could enhance confidence and was capable of changing mood, she was also in breach of the ASA code, the authority said.
They also ruled that although the Instagram post was unlikely to have been seen by under 18s, TikTok does not allow alcohol advertising and therefore was watchable by a much larger audience of under 18s and this also breached the code. Separate complaints had been made about whether it was an ad and if underage viewers could see it.
The ASA themselves also looked into whether she portrayed irresponsible drinking. They upheld all the complaints except the one against the Instagram ad which they ruled had been properly targeted at her followers, almost all of whom are over 18. They added: “The Muff Liquor Company said that within 24 hours of being made aware of the complaint, Ms Whitmore was asked to remove the ads.
“They clarified that Ms Whitmore was not paid for the ads, and confirmed that she was a shareholder of The Muff Liquor Company.”
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