Ex Love Island star Gabby Allen uploaded a post to Instagram advertising Primark apparel alongside the caption: “Feeling fab but chilled Wearing these jeans and top from one and only @primark #iworkwithprimark”. Gabby Allen and Primark believed that the hashtag used was adequately clear and informed consumers that the advertisement was paid for.
The ASA disagreed, considering that “work” was vague and ambiguous and the relationship between the parties was not obvious. Although #ad was added to the post at a later date, it was not present when the advertisement was originally posted and was only included at the end of a lengthy caption so consumers were less likely to see it and pay attention to it. For these reasons, the ASA found that the advertisement was in breach of the CAP code as it was not obviously identifiable as a marketing communication.
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