Zoella, Rita Ora and other social media stars pledge to declare when they've been paid to endorse products online

Ellie Goulding, Michelle Keegan, Jim Chapman and Holly Hagan have also said they will state when they've been paid to promote a product or service

Published: Wednesday, 23 January 2019 at 11:54 am

Social media stars including Zoella, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding and Michelle Keegan have pledged they will clearly state when they've been paid to endorse brands online.

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This follows warnings from the Competition and Markets Authority against the potentially unlawful practice of online influencers being paid for endorsing products without disclosing that they were being rewarded by the company.

Rewards can include money, gifts of services or products, or the loan of a product.

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CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said, “Influencers can have a huge impact on what their fans decide to buy. People could, quite rightly, feel misled if what they thought was a recommendation from someone they admired turns out to be a marketing ploy.

“You should be able to tell as soon as you look at a post if there is some form of payment or reward involved, so you can decide whether something is really worth spending your hard-earned money on.”

The celebrities named by the Competition and Markets Authority are:

The authority also says that warning letters have been sent to a number of other celebrities, urging them to review their practices where concerns have been identified.

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Many celebrities use the hashtags “#ad” or “#sponsored” to communicate they have been paid to endorse a product.

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