Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson in double trouble for plugging products on Snapchat

Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson has landed in double trouble with watchdogs for plugging two products online.
Double trouble for Geordie Shore star- SWNSDouble trouble for Geordie Shore star- SWNS
Double trouble for Geordie Shore star- SWNS

The 25-year-old brunette was pictured with a Diamond Whites beauty product on the Snapchat messenger app, and in another picture wearing her own range of grey contact lenses.

Both images were subject of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), prompting separate investigations.

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Both images were found to breach rules regarding "recognition of marketing communications", and were banned from being used again.

A Snapchat snap seen on June 20 this year, showed an image of Ms Simpson holding a Diamond Whites product close to her face. Text on the snap stated "50% off everything from Diamond Whites! Swipe up [Heart emoji]".

One person, who believed the snap was a paid-for brand endorsement, challenged whether the ad was "obviously identifiable" as a marketing communication.

Diamond Whites, based in Ongar, Essex, said Ms Simpson had been the "face" of their brand for nearly two years and they therefore believed that her followers were aware of the relationship she had with their brand.

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But the firm said it was unable to disclose the information requested about their contractual relationship with her as it was "confidential".

Missing hashtags

They said given the length of the relationship and the fact that Ms Simpson frequently talked about them, they didn't feel that the posts required hashtags.

But an ASA spokesman said: "Although we noted Diamond Whites' view that Marnie Simpson's followers would be aware of their commercial relationship, we considered that it was not clear from the snap itself that Marnie Simpson had a commercial relationship with Diamond Whites.

"Therefore it would not be clear to Snapchat users, particularly to those new to Snapchat, that Marnie Simpson had created a snap on Diamond Whites' behalf."

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He added: "We welcomed Diamond Whites' willingness to ensure they will use '#ad' in future.

"We reiterated their responsibility to ensure that all of the ads they produced were obviously identifiable as marketing communications in future."

The second complaint was about a Snapchat snap by Ms Simpson, also seen in June, showing an image of her wearing grey contact lenses, alongside the message: "[Heart emoji] mrs grey coming soon".

Marketing message

Someone who understood the snap advertised Ms Simpson's contact lens range complained to the ASA that the snap was not "obviously identifiable" as a marketing communication.

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Unleashed PR, trading as I Spy Eyes, said they were a celebrity management agency and managed Ms Simpson.

The firm, based in South Woodford, east London, said they also sold a range of coloured contact lenses called I Spy Eyes which was branded as "by Marnie Simpson".

They said Ms Simpson posted about the lenses and made it clear she was advertising the website for the lenses by pointing people to 'shop' or 'swipe up to buy' or by posting comments in videos and stating that this was "her own lens range".

But the firm said the word 'ad' or '#ad' was not placed on the snap which it should have been.

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They said on future snaps which did not mention a company name or website, they would make sure that it was clear it was an ad.

But the ASA said rules made it clear that ads must be "obviously identifiable" as marketing communications.

The ASA spokesman said: "We considered that it was not clear from the snap itself that Marnie Simpson was promoting her own product and therefore it would not be clear to Snapchat users, particularly to those new to Snapchat, that the snap concerned was a marketing communication."

He added: "The ad must not appear again in its current form.

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"We welcomed I Spy Eyes' willingness to ensure they would use "#ad" in future.

"We reiterated their responsibility to ensure that all of the ads they produced were obviously identifiable as marketing communications in future."