The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has cleared Snickers over a social media PR stunt involving Katie Price and Rio Ferdinand. Kim Walker, a technology partner at leading law firm Thomas Eggar, comments:
“Each of the tweets was considered to be part of an overall marketing communication at the point each was posted. The ASA finding is one which shows a real understanding for the way in which campaigns are run using media such as twitter, and advertisers and their brand clients can continue to produce innovative campaigns along these lines.
“The adjudication finds that “the first four tweets in each series served as ‘teasers’, which, due to their nature, were likely to generate additional interest in the celebrities’ postings.” Those first tweets did not make any reference to Snickers or to Mars and were posted in relatively quick succession. The fifth ‘reveal’ tweets showed the celebrities with the product and in that context the combination of those elements was sufficient to make clear the tweets were advertising and that consumers would then understand each series of tweets was a marketing communication.”
Kim Walker, partner at law firm Thomas Eggar
Editor … The ASA has cleared a Mars marketing campaign on Twitter in a landmark ruling? Will it open the door to more celebrity endorsements of products on social media?
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