Myleene Klass, the singer and radio presenter, has fallen foul of the advertising watchdog and has had three separate Instagram posts of hers banned after she failed to make it clear to her followers that they were advertisements.
The posts, promoting a book she had written, They Don’t Teach This At School, as well as products sold by the retailer Next and footwear brand Skechers, all failed to include any sort of indication they were adverts, the Advertising Standards Authority found.
In a reel on Klass’s Instagram on May 13, the text stated: “What do you wish they’d taught at school? I asked my mates. . .", accompanied by a video of various celebrities answering the question. The video ended with Klass being shown holding a copy of her book, while text on-screen stated: "Wish granted.” Klass has more than 414,000 followers on Instagram.
A viewer complained that the post was not obviously identifiable as an advertisement. Posts later in May showed Klass wearing clothes from Next and tagged with MyleeneKlassXNext and nextofficial. Next said it had an agreement with Klass that she should make positive references to the brand in interviews, public appearances and on social media but should make it clear that she had a commercial relationship with Next.
Further posts in May and June featured images of Klass wearing Skechers items, one showing her and another woman wearing pink plastic clogs with the text: “@the_mutha_ship @skechers_uk didn’t even plan it”. Skechers said the posts were part of a contractual relationship with Klass, which required her to comply with all applicable laws, including advertising laws.
A representative for Klass told the ASA there was “some confusion as to what was and was not an advert but Ms Klass had added ‘ad’ to all her posts moving forward and would continue to do so”.
The ASA found that all the posts constituted advertising, but that they did not feature any label identifying them as such. It ruled that the adverts must not appear again, adding: “We told Myleene Klass to ensure that ads were obviously identifiable as marketing communications and made clear upfront their commercial intent in future, for example, by including a clear identifier such as ‘#ad’.”
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