Mrs. Hinch caught out by Instagram’s advertising policy - how did she break the platform’s guidelines?

Those who are looking at cleaning hacks on Instagram today will be disappointed to learn that the platform has banned two posts by one of the foremost UK influencers Mrs. Hinch, aka Sophie Hinchcliffe. The first offending post was made on 7 January 2022, which earned the wrath of the UK advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA.)

In her post, Mrs. Hinch featured a notebook filled with writing and the text 'if you’re a little mad like me tap here for yours'. The link then led Instagram audiences to a product page on Amazon’s website and the video ended with the front cover of the notebook which stated ‘Mrs Hinch Life in Lists’ while Hinchliffe stated: ‘In my own notebook of course.’

That post earned 34 complaints to the watchdog as it was ambiguous that the post was a form of advertising for her range of products, and wasn’t clearly marked with the hashtag 'ad' or its equivalents - which the ASA deemed a breach of their guidelines they set out in 2021. They cited that the line ‘Mrs Hinch Life in Lists’, and her statement that it was ‘In my own notebook of course’, only appeared at the end of the ad.

The watchdog concluded: ‘We considered the ad was not immediately clear as to Ms Hinchliffe’s commercial relationship with the notebook.’

The ruling is one of two Mrs Hinch has been embroiled in, as another post from 27 January 2022, featuring heart-shaped bowls, once again not indicating to her audience that they were part of her own line for sale through UK supermarket chain Tesco. Both Hinchliffe and Tesco confirmed that Hinchliffe received royalties for the products that formed part of her range but that the ad did not form part of their agreement, which had expired on November 1, 2021.

Hinchcliffe defended this post by claiming that it was created ‘organically’ and not as part of any obligation to market the products and the post was similar to her style of content that were not ads, which she created when relaxing or cooking around the home.

But the ASA thought otherwise, stating in their second ruling: 'Whilst that text may have given some indication to consumers that Ms Hinchliffe had been involved in designing the bowls, it was not explicitly made clear, and we considered that it was also not clear that she received royalties from their sale.

'As such, we considered that it needed to be made explicitly clear when content such as this, where she offered advice to her followers, was linked to a commercial deal that benefited her financially.'

The rulings mean that both posts are not allowed to appear on the influencer’s Instagram feed ever again, with the proxy fallout being the watchdog also keeping an eye on Mrs Hinch’s account to ensure such activity does not occur again.

What are ASA’s guidelines for advertising on Instagram?

The Advertising Standards Agency set out their guidelines for advertising and marketing on social media as part of their Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code, for short), in particular Section 2 of the code, pertaining to Recognition of marketing communications.

In particular, it would appear that Mrs Hinch had twice breached rules 2.3 and 2.4; 2.3 which states: 'Marketing communications must not falsely claim or imply that the marketer is acting as a consumer or for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession; marketing communications must make clear their commercial intent, if that is not obvious from the context.'

Rule 2.4 of the CAP Code also states that: 'marketers and publishers must make clear that advertorials are marketing communications; for example, by heading them "advertisement feature".'

That refers to when brands reward creators and influencers for bringing in increased traffic to their websites and boosting their sales. In this instance, the ASA argued that Mrs. Hinch could be rewarded by Amazon or Tesco with a small percentage of the sales made from a specific product they endorsed across their social media channels.

It is as simple as using a hashtag such as #ad, #gift or #spon (short for sponsored) clearly in the copy of the post to disclose to audiences the nature of the posting.

Who else has been banned for not disclosing advertising content?

Perhaps the biggest instance of the ASA’s CAP Code being breached took place in 2019 when Molly-Mae Hague came under scrutiny following a post shared on Instagram. The social media influencer and 2019 Love Island runner-up posted a picture of herself sporting a gorgeous coat from fashion giant Pretty Little Thing.

Molly-Mae captioned the post 'A/W, I’m ready.' Due to Molly’s partnership with PLT, her contract states that any advertising services for PLT have to be identifiable to the customer. Not only this but 'any posts made under their commercial relationship' should be tagged as a 'paid partnership with PrettyLittleThing' using the paid partnership feature on Instagram.

Although the picture was posted organically, the ASA did not feel that the context of the post was made clear enough which resulted in it being removed.