The era of "free rein" on social media has come to an end. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has brought out the heavy artillery against influencers promoting so-called scams and using undisclosed advertising. How should sponsored posts and stories be correctly labelled to avoid paying tens of thousands of zloty in fines? We present a guide to the Office's guidelines.
💡 Key takeaways
- Any benefit from the brand – including barter (e.g. a free lunch, a trip, or a PR package with cosmetics) is remuneration that necessitates marking the post as an advertisement.
- Using hashtags such as #ad or ambiguous # Collaboration is recognised by UOKiK as insufficient. Please use the following unambiguous hashtags: #advertisement or #sponsoredcontent.
- Ignoring the UOKiK's request for an explanation is the worst possible path. The most well-known Polish creators (including Kruszwil and Maffashion) have paid fines totalling over PLN 130,000. for the purpose of marriage, cooperation with the Officeregardless of whether they actually broke advertising rules.
Excuses about an ‘over-exposed background’ obscuring the text ‘#reklama’, or about being unaware of the origin of the free trainers, no longer hold water. An influencer is a fully-fledged advertising entrepreneur and bears full responsibility for misleading consumers.
Influencer marketing and UOKiK regulations
Crypto-advertising in the light of the law
Earning from reach and brand collaborations (influencer marketing) has for years evaded outdated legislation. Finally, UOKiK has determined that the current regulations (primarily Article 16 of the Act on Combating Unfair Competition) are fully sufficient to penalise online creators.
From a legal perspective, undercover advertising is an incentive to acquire goods that gives the impression of neutral informationIf a TikToker recommends "their favourite foundation" and in reality they were paid for it (even in the form of the cosmetic itself), and their viewers were not informed about this, they are engaging in unfair competition. Any situation where a creator conceals the commercial nature of their recommendations is punishable.
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The golden rule formulated by UOKiK states: the marking must be clear and explicit enough for the average consumer without deep analysis and "reading into it" He immediately knew he was watching an advertisement.
Errors in hashtags and hiding descriptions
It is not permitted to place informational hashtags at the very end of a gigantic block of text that few people reach. It is equally dangerous to use English designations, such as #ad (advertisement). In Germany, local influencers have already been convicted for using only #ad. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) also takes a strict stance on the most popular hashtag on Polish Instagram # collaboration - The authority considers it ambiguous (as it could, after all, refer to charitable cooperation) and expressly requires the use of the wording: 1TP5Advertisement or # sponsored content.
Labels on InstaStory, TikTok and YouTube
- InstaStory The #reklama sticker must be positioned on every tile ("stories"), not just on the first. It is not permissible to hide it (e.g. using white font on a very light background).
- YouTube It is good practice to include a "Sponsored Film" board at the beginning of the film and to click the appropriate "Paid Promotion" flag in the YT panel settings.
- TikTok Due to the short duration and limited viewing time of the description, the visual marker (sticker in the video) should be an absolute priority.
Promoting "Scams" as an act of unfair competition
Another area of UOKiK's activities is combating the promotion of fraud (so-called "scams"). This includes Chinese watches sold as luxury goods, uncertified slimming powders, fake "mystery boxes," or investments in fake crypto exchanges.
Under Article 16(1)(2) of the Act on Combating Unfair Competition, misleading advertising of goods is an illegal practice. Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK, has repeatedly stressed that "one cannot reflexively decide on dubious cooperation for financial reasons," and the influencer's duty is Verification goods before his order (e.g. by ordering a sample and researching online).
What to do when you receive a letter from UOKiK?
When the President of UOKiK requests the submission of agreements concluded with brands, it means that they have initiated investigationAt this stage, the authority is simply examining whether the law has been broken and who, if anyone, imposed illegal conditions (sometimes it is the marketing agencies themselves that force influencers to hide hashtags).
The number one rule is: cooperate with the Office. Ignoring a demand to issue documents is a sentence on your own wallet. This was discovered by the biggest Polish creators, who disregarded letters from the President of UOKiK, for which they were fined substantially, in the region of 50,000 zlotys.