The Giurì dell’Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria, with Decision n. 45/2018 dated 26 June 2018 (the reasoning of which has been recently become known), has for the first time affirmed that an endorsement of a well known trademark (in this case Peugeot) by an influencer on its Instagram account, without the clear indication of its commercial nature, is a hidden commercial communication, breaching art. 7 of the Code of Marketing Communication Self-Regulation. Moreover, it is blatant that the prohibition of hidden advertising has a general validity and must be therefore also applied to communications and advertising on social networks.Therefore, it is nowadays very important that celebrities, influencers, bloggers and endorsers, as besides already suggested in the guidelines contained in the Digital Chart of the Istituto dell’Autodisiciplina Pubblicitaria, take appropriate precautions such as to inform their followers on the advertising nature of the endorsement, inserting in their posts disclaimers such as ‘Publicity’ ‘Advertising’ ‘Adv’.These principles have been reaffirmed by the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (Italian Competition Authority), which as published in the press release on 6 August, (attached hereto), has intervened with a second moral suasion against the influencers, this time with a relevant but not extremely high number of followers.
