Cristiano Ronaldo has been warned by the British Advertising Standards Agency because he posted two posts on social media and implanted advertising products without specifying that they were advertisements, according to the latest report by Martyn Ziegler, chief reporter of the Times.
Charity researcher Dr Alex May complained to ASA about two posts from the former Manchester United striker in October, one about herbal nutrition products and the other about expensive muscle massages.
While Cristiano Ronaldo has 105.7 million followers on Twitter and 510 million on Instagram, he can earn more than 1 million pounds per tweet. In response to the complaint, ASA said Cristiano Ronaldo “may have violated our rules”.
The advertising regulator added: “We have taken steps to address this problem, expressing concerns to influential people and providing them with guidance on areas that require attention.”
If “influential people” like Cristiano Ronaldo continue to post on social media without explicitly saying it’s an ad– such as using # ad–, they can be added to the ASA list, which lists and humiliates people who are “often not explicitly disclosed when advertising to consumers on social media channels.”