PrettyLittleThing has been reprimanded by the advertising watchdog after a TikTok post failed to make it clear it was an advert.
The Wave House, a group of six prominent TikTok influencers who boast over 4 million followers, produced the advert for PrettyLittleThing, which has now been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The clip in question features two men and two women sitting in convertible cars wearing leather and pink jackets embroidered with PrettyLittleThing’s logo.
One viewer complained the post was not clearly labelled as an advert, breaking the ASA’s code of conduct for advertising on social media.
Both brands acknowledged the error, and The Wave Group said the advert was posted without proper labels in error.
READ MORE: UK Instagram influencers face “enforcement action” by ASA over failure to label ads
It comes just weeks after the ASA threatened “enforcement action” against influencers who fail to disclose advertising in their posts.
Last month the watchdog said it is considering naming and shaming prominent influencers after it found the number of them sticking to advertising rules was “far below what we would expect”.
In September the ASA examined 122 UK-based influencers on Instagram, the platform which receives the majority of complaints, and found that just 35 per cent were clearly labelling advertising in their posts.
“There’s simply no excuse not to make clear to the public when positive messages in posts have been paid-for by a brand,” ASA chief executive Guy Parker said.
“While some influencers have got their houses in order, our monitoring shows how much more there is to do. We’ve given influencers and brands fair warning.
“We’re now targeting our follow-up monitoring and preparing for enforcement action.”
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