Mrs Hinch has reacted to her Instagram ban after fans complained about one of her posts.
The self-confessed "cleaning mad" woman from Essex, aka Sophie Hinchcliffe, has more than 4m followers on social media, who lap up her cleaning hacks in earnest.
However, Sophie, 33, 'failed to make clear to her followers she was advertising her own products' in a post on Instagram last year, according to Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
In January 2022, the influencer posted a story featuring a notebook with the text: “If you’re a little mad like me tap here for yours.”
The link on the story took users to Amazon where they could purchase the notebook, with Mrs Hinch then adding: “In my own notebook of course.”
However, the post attracted 34 complaints, with fans saying the post was not initially identifiable as an ad for the cleaning guru's own notebook.
Responding to the ruling from the ASA, which said the commercial intent of the post was “ambiguous”, Mrs Hinch confirmed the notebook was of her own design and was still available to buy in several retailers, but believed it was clear the post was an ad and that it was her own product she was promoting.
However, she said she would be happy to include “ad” within future social media posts that included links to her own products in future.
Mrs Hinch also said she would include an “ad” label in future when showing products she had designed, and would continue to do so for up to 12 months after the products had been available to buy.
The ASA noted that the line “Mrs Hinch Life in Lists”, and her statement that it was “In my own notebook of course”, only appeared at the end of the ad, concluding: “We considered the ad was not immediately clear as to Ms Hinchliffe’s commercial relationship with the notebook.”
It ruled the ad must not appear again.
In a separate ruling, the ASA also banned another Instagram post from January 27 last year in which the Instagram star featured heart-shaped bowls with the text: “On a right roll here. Even put some ‘nibbles’ (In my own hinch heart bowls, I love em) #hinchxtesco.”
Fans again complained that had not been clear that she was advertising her own product line.
Both Mrs Hinch and Tesco confirmed the influencer received royalties for the products that formed part of her range, but that the ad did not form part of their agreement, which had expired on November 1, 2021. Mrs Hinch said the ad was created “organically” and not as part of any obligation to market the products.
