I’ve Got A Text! ‘Love Island Star’s Instagram Competitions Failing to Comply with ASA Standards’

Read time: 3 mins

Molly-Mae standing behind Louie Vuitton bags for her competition giveaway

Competition Based Promotions

Popular Love Island stars often take to Instagram after their time in the villa to promote brands, products and competitions. While influencer marketing is a well-established practice, it is worth noting the pitfalls which brands can lead themselves down.

New to fame Love Island contestants offer brands huge exposure, consumer engagement and targeted advertising. Great!? Yes, in theory.

Well planned promotions and competitions can be massively successful with the help of a well-known influencer, however we’re seeing time and time again brands and Love Island stars disregarding the ASA rules surrounding competitions. To name a few, Belle Hassan, Francesca Allen, Eve and Jess Gale, Anna Vakili and most famously Molly-Mae Hague have previously been in breach of the rules.

Previously, ASA banned Molly-Mae’s £8k giveaway competition, which was promoting her Instagram page, YouTube channel and tanning brand ‘Filter by Molly-Mae’.

Molly-Mae standing behind Louie Vuitton bags for her competition giveaway

The competition process was simple:

  1. Follow Molly-Mae’s Instagram Account.
  2. Subscribe to Molly-Mae’s YouTube Channel.
  3. Follow the ‘Filter by Molly-Mae’ Instagram Account.

The response to the competition was ‘overwhelming and unexpected’, according to Molly-Mae’s team. Over 2 million people participated in the competition, yet only 25 names were submitted to the final draw for the £8k prize, and here in lies the issue.

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Molly-Mae told the ASA that her team had been instructed to shortlist 100 entrants and verify they had followed all required social media accounts, these 100 people would then be entered into a random online selection process. The ASA later found via Molly-Mae’s Instagram story that only 25 people had been selected for the final draw.

Due to the inconsistences, selection process and lack of supervision by an impartial person, the ASA concluded the promotion had not been administered fairly and therefore breached ASA standards.

Running fair and compliant influencer competitions can go a long way towards boosting brands exposure and relevance, but they need to be administered with expert guidance to ensure there are no negative repercussions. Benamic specialise in running high return on investment promotional campaigns globally. Our comprehensive service covers every aspect of your campaign. Contact us to talk with a promotion expert.

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