NewsUKFeigned authenticity, misleading information and photo editing are some of the ways users are being misled by influencers online
Thursday, 24th October 2019, 3:40 pm
Model Katie Price, The Only Way is Essex's Lauren Goodger, and Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison have all been pulled up by the Advertising Standards Authority for the promotional posts, which promised brands such as Boombod's "weight loss shot drink" and V24's "weight loss gummies" would "help keep hunger at bay" and offer quick results for shedding weight.
As promotions from celebrities and influencers for these brands look set to be a continuing issue, here's a look into the tricks behind the posts that make dropping weight look easy and simple:
Camera tricks and posing
"When it comes to advertising dieting products, the last thing you want is a skin roll, or evidence of the elusive muffin top," says Kara Buffrey, client services and media manager at Clearly PR.
Ms Buffrey, who specialises in social media engagement and recently commissioned a report on advertising on Instagram, said the main way that celebrities or influencers "mis-advertise" a product to followers is by simple camera tricks and photo editing.
Showing slightly different before and after shots, where people look frumpy at first and then pose in a flattering position is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it still appears to work. "These people are using sloped camera angles and planned body placements in an attempt to stretch and streamline their body," she said. "This is misleading - after all, who really walks around with their back arched at a right angle?"
Referencing how Ms Price advertised BoomBod, Ms Buffrey said the post insinuated her transformation was solely down to the brand's product because she posted a before and after picture. In reality, the "after" image showcased new muscle definition - a change only achievable through exercise. These tricks have the added issue of being "potentially dangerous" Ms Greenidge said, as it can "lead individuals to believe that fast weight loss can come from one product alone".
Issues of transparency
When it comes to transparent advertising, "diet products really are a minefield", Sarah Greenidge told i. The founder of The WellSpoken Mark - a stamp of credibility for brands providing trustworthy health and fitness information -said the biggest issue she sees is "the omission of information which either disguises the real method in which [the products] are 'effective' - like a laxative effect - or the suggestion that they are suitable for everyone".
She used the example of reality star Jemma Lucy who recently had an Instagram ad she posted for Skinny Cafe banned for, among other reasons, promoting the brand's products that were unsafe to use during pregnancy - even though she had posted the ad while she was pregnant herself. At the time, Ms Lucy argued she never encouraged the product to be used by pregnant women, but she didn't specify this in the post - the text for which had been written by Skinny Cafe.
"The products in question had warning labels indicating they were not suitable for pregnant women, however in the influencer captions this information was completely missed," Ms Greenidge said.
Feigned authenticity?
There has also been an increase in influencers and brands focusing on proving their authenticity in recent years, sparked by a backlash against the amount of misleading information that had been spread online, but this new push for honesty can have its downsides too.
Jo Bromilow, digital strategist at Newgate Communications, has worked in social media for over a decade and said companies have been reacting to the shift in users wanting "honest" advertising by creating ads that appear to be about someone talking about lifestyle and health, but are ultimately branded content.
She said showing a "nice photo of an individual smiling to camera, with a caption talking about self-improvement, body image or similar hot topics, who only then reveals the connection to the brand later" is a method that many influencers use for branded posts.
"Most of the influencers followers will hit like on the picture purely because theyre a fan of the influencer, and many will chime in in the comments agreeing with the sentiment in the caption," she said, but ultimately the result is that the brand in question gets the "engagement metrics theyre looking for".
Moral intervention
What is notable about the ASA's latest ruling, is that it stated "it was clear from the ads that the influencers did not need to lose weight in order to achieve a healthy diet", while the posts from Ms Price and Ms Goodger in particular gave the impression that it was "necesary or advisable" for people who were already slim to use weight loss or appetite suppressing products.
Steve Kuncewicz, a partner at BLM Law Firm who specialises in advertising on social media, told ithat this is an example of how the ASA is increasingly starting to intervene on moral advertising issues instead of just technical breaches from brands.
He said the clear theme with the ASA's ruling for BoomBod is that the posts featuring celebrities were deemed irresponsible as these figures are seen as having aspirational lifestyles, where young girls or anyone who uses the products will want to look and act like them, as opposed to the brands simply being rapped for misleading health information.
"This is the first time we're seeing this kind of issue dealt with such sharp focus in influencer marketing," he said. "[The ASA] sees influencer marketing as one of their absolute top prioritises in terms of how to get to grips with it."
