Influencers told to remove ‘misleading’ adverts after using filters to exaggerate tanning product effectiveness

Cinzia Baylis-Zullo 
Instagram
April Roach @aprilroach283 February 2021

Two social media influencers have been ordered to remove “misleading” Instagram posts in which they used filters to exaggerate depictions of tanning products.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that Instagram beauty filters used by Cinzia Baylis-Zullo and Elly Norris mislead consumers “regarding the effect the product was capable of achieving”.

The complaints referred to two posts in July last year, one by Ms Zullo promoting We Are Luxe Ltd t/a Tanologist Tan, and one by Ms Norris promoting Skinny Tan.

The ASA said that the use of filters in adverts was “not inherently problematic”, but that advertisers of cosmetic products “needed to take particular care not to exaggerate or otherwise mislead consumers regarding the product advertised”.

We Are Luxe Ltd said Ms Zullo’s video was a demonstration of how to apply the product and she had not described its efficacy.

Ms Zullo, who has 356,000 followers on Instragram, said that the filter used in the post changed her appearance by adding freckles, but that the video was intended to explain how to use the product rather than to demonstrate how it looked.

Skinny Tan said that Ms Norris, who has 23,000 followers, had created the photos and text in her Instagram posts and they had reposted them because she had been complimentary about the product – but they had not paid her.

Ms Norris said she was not aware of the implications of filter use and her intention was not to mislead.

She said she had applied an Instagram in-app filter called “Perfect Tan” by Bianca Petry to her photos.

The ASA said that customers would expect to see results from the products featured similar to those of both women and the posts were therefore misleading.

It ordered that the adverts must not appear in the form complained about.

The ASA told Skinny Tan and Ms Norris, and We Are Luxe Ltd and Ms Zullo, not to apply beauty filters to photos which promoted beauty products if such filters were likely to exaggerate the effect the product was capable of achieving.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in