• President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection Tomasz Chróstny has brought charges against another three influencers: Filip Chajzer, Dorota Rabczewska and Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan, in relation to the incorrect tagging of advertising content on social media.
• How to do this correctly, we explain in the Recommendations of the President of UOKiK on tagging advertising content and in the section “Questions and answers”.
• In addition, PRIME MMA, a company that organises and broadcasts influencer fights on the Internet, was fined for failing to cooperate with UOKiK.

President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection Tomasz Chróstny has brought charges of failing to clearly tag advertising material on Instagram against three influencers:

• Filip Chajzer (Filip Chajzer Warsaw Media),
• Dorota Rabczewska (Queen Records Dorota Rabczewska),
• Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan (Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan company).

In their posts, creators promote the products of various advertisers, for which they are paid, and do not tag sponsored content in a clear, readable, and understandable way. Therefore, they may mislead consumers about the nature of the published posts and stories.

Good morning, are we tagging ads?

Filip Chajzer offers promotional and advertising activities using his social media. Together with clients, he creates “creations of proprietary and original marketing solutions” – according to his official website. He works with New Balance and the Skoda Auto Wimar car dealership, among others.

In his publications, Chajzer does not reveal the nature of sponsored content, even though some advertisers make analogous posts with his image. The journalist stops at pointing out the brand of the products – neither using the platform's functionality nor adding relevant annotations in the description or directly on the photo or video. He sometimes uses the #cooperation tag at the end of posts, which does not clearly show the commercial nature of the activity. Meanwhile, the entrepreneur should clearly communicate both the brand being advertised and the commercial nature of the content. In doing so, we recommend that this is done in two layers – through the functionality of the platform and in-house.

Unprincipled practices

Dorota Rabczewska collaborates with, among others, the cosmetics company Sodore and the advertising agency WhitePress, commissioned to advertise various brands and products. The singer does not always sufficiently disclose the sponsored nature of her publications, nor does she use the social media platform’s dedicated functionality for this.

UOKiK found that Dorota Rabczewska – in some cases – adds the hashtag #advertisement to her posts only a few days after the material is published. While it is true that she uses the recommended term, she edits the entry after the fact, and many consumers do not have the opportunity to see this correction. This type of tags should be placed next to or on advertising material immediately upon publication when the reach generated by new posts or stories is greatest. It should also be in a prominent place, such as at the beginning of a description or recording.

Tags far from perfect

Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan publishes advertisements for products under contracts with, among others, Henkel Polska, Noyo Pharm, Oceansapart, and AllNutrition in the form of posts and instastories on her Instagram account. It is the creator who decides on the content of the material, including descriptions and specific hashtags. However, she does not use the Instagram functionality whereby she could tag them as sponsored. She does not mark them as advertisements either in the description or on the material.

Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan only stops at indicating the brand of the products and – in some cases – including the hashtag #cooperation, which does not clearly indicate the commercial nature of the activity. There were also instances where the hashtag #cooperation was placed in a way that was almost invisible to the consumer, e.g. in an Instastory publication it was hidden under the profile name in the top left corner. It is important that the commercial nature of the publication is clear to consumers – recommended terms should be used, e.g. #Reklama (it means advertisement),[materiał sponsorowany] (it means sponsored material), and the tag should be prominently displayed and in a large enough font.

Prohibition on misleading consumers in advertisements

Paid promotion of products or services without a clear indication that they are sponsored content is misleading to consumers and may constitute an unfair market practice and, in some cases, an act of unfair competition. This applies not only to traditional media, but also to popular social networks and online news and opinion sites.

Investigations into influencers can result in a fine of up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover.

Actions taken so far by the President of UOKiK

In June 2022 the following were penalised for their lack of cooperation with the Office: “Kruszwil” Marek Kruszel, “MD” Marcin Dubiel, “Maffashion” Julia Kuczyńska, Paweł Malinowski, Marcin Malczyński and “Marley” Marlena Soyka. In July 2022 the President of UOKiK initiated four proceedings in connection with the incorrect tagging of advertising content. Three influencers heard the charges: Katarzyna Dziurska, Katarzyna Oleśkiewicz–Szuba, and Piotr Lisek, as well as their advertiser, Olimp Laboratories. Proceedings are at the final stage.

In September 2022, the Recommendations of the President of UOKiK on tagging of social media advertisements were published as a practical guide describing good practices for the influencer marketing market. UOKiK provided education and publicity about the obligation of correct tagging - there was a lot of publicity about the Recommendations, not only through mentions  in the national media, but also in industry discussions, during webinars and at conferences, and on social media itself thanks to the campaign #OznaczamReklamy.

- Our work on the influencer marketing market has initiated positive changes in the correct tagging of commercial content. Unfortunately, some creators still do not tag advertising content in an unambiguous, clear and understandable way for their recipients. They are grossly negligent in this respect, instead of complying with the law in force and setting a good example with their behaviour – says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

- Apart from social media, we also verify the methods of tagging contents published on websites. We want consumers to be protected from hidden advertisements and to be able to make an informed choice about whether they want to familiarise themselves with commercial content – adds the President of UOKiK.

PRIME MMA – fine for non-cooperation with the President of UOKiK

The tagging of advertisements is not the only online activities of celebrities that the President of UOKiK is looking at. Following consumer signals regarding the operation of the company PRIME MMA, which organises and broadcasts influencer fights on the Internet, the Office analysed the issue of information on costs and rules for asking questions during the broadcast of MMA galas and the popular meetings preceding them (including the so-called Face 2 Face). UOKiK verified whether the consumer knew that when sending questions, he would use the so-called SMS-a Premium, which would entail charging a higher fee.

PRIME MMA did not respond to the letters sent by UOKiK, despite receiving calls for explanations. For failing to provide the requested information in time, the President of UOKiK imposed a fine of PLN 50,000.00 on it.

It was only after the initiation of the penalty proceedings that the entrepreneur drew attention to the official letters and partly provided the requested information. In doing so, it confirmed that viewers had not been properly informed of the additional, higher than standard, charges for news. In addition, it assured to reimburse consumers for the additional costs charged for so-called premium SMS. The decision is final.

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