The ASA aren’t very helpful, IME. I reported Luisa zissman for an ambiguous post about personalised satin PJs “i love these amazing PJs” etc. Wasn’t tagged as a gift or an ad. ASA followed up and said:
“
Our remit
In order for such Instagram post to be considered advertising for the purposes of the rules that we apply, the following two tests must be met: 1) payment by the brand must be made to the blogger/vlogger/influencer AND 2) the brand must hold editorial control over what the blogger includes in the post.
Our guidance on this matter
Our current position on this issue is that where a brand sends a blogger items for free without any control of the content (or any conditions attached) and the blogger may or may not choose to include the item(s) in a blog, this sort of PR activity is not covered by the CAP Code; because there is no control, the post would not need to be labelled as an advertorial. Likewise, if a blogger accepts an item sent by a brand on the simple condition that it is reviewed (positively or negatively), without the brand exercising any control over the review, that blog is unlikely to be covered by the CAP Code.
In this case, we have received confirmation from the blogger that the brand did not hold editorial control over the post your complaint referred to. As we understand that the conditions mentioned above were not met, the post would fall out of our remit and we won’t be taking any further action. We have however explained our requirements regarding ad labelling to Luisa Zissman, for future reference.”
So gifts don’t have to be labelled! ?????