The Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs, as a national consumer protection authority, analyzed 366 messages, from 20 influencers, on the social network Instagram, «in order to verify compliance with the legislation that requires the clear and unequivocal identification of the commercial relationship between the influencer and the advertised brand/company, in a total of 137 advertised companies».
The main sectors of activity covered were cosmetics, sports, passenger transport platforms, household appliances, clothing, hotels, restaurants, gyms, jewelry, hairdressers, food supplements for sports, drinks, electronic communications, automobiles, streaming, toys, banks, games, travel and technology.
According to the DGC, «it was found that 28% of the messages (102) did not identify the commercial relationship between the influencer and the company, covering 55% of the companies (76) in which this identification did not exist».
Furthermore, «some influencers in some messages complied with the legislation and in others they did not».
The DGC therefore initiated administrative proceedings relating to the infringing messages, not only in relation to influencers, but also to brands/companies advertised without this identification.
The General Consumer Directorate recalls that communications involving commercial content, even if indirect, such as the promotion of products or services from a brand in a publication that generates revenue or other types of benefits, must be disclosed as an advertising activity, following the guidelines of the DGC contained in the informative Guide on the rules and good practices in commercial communication in the digital environment.
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