Popular blogger Grace Mongey was investigated by The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland after a complaint from a follower.
Grace runs lifestyle blog FacesByGrace and works with brands on Snapchat.
A member of the public felt the content on Snapchat had not been clearly identified as sponsored.
As per ASAI guidelines, influencers must clearly state when they are being paid on social media using hashtags such a #spon or #ad.
The 29-year-old posted several snaps on the app promoting Miss Fit Skinny Tea and posted three of them without a hashtag.
According to the ASAI: The complainant said that the blogger was advertising a detox programme but was not clearly identifying that the posts were sponsored. They considered that all posts in regard to the product should have been clearly marked as such.
Miss Fit Skinny Tea stated that they had no control over what the blogger or anyone else typed or did not type.
Faces By Grace responded that she did use the specific hashtag at the beginning of the promotion to clearly state that it was an advertisement. She said that she always used the appropriate hashtags to let her followers know when she was being paid for a collaboration.
The ASAI reviewed the complaint and found that because snaps disappear, one snapchat in a sequence highlighting that it is a sponsored post is not enough, as it may disappear some time before the rest.
It said: “While the Committee considered that there was no evidence in this case that relevant consumers had not seen all the snaps, including those identifying that the snaps were advertising, they were aware that snaps were available to view for 24 hours only.
“Therefore, if snap number 1 in a series included the relevant hashtag but subsequent snaps did not include the hashtag and they were published some hours later, there would be a period within that 24hr period when the first snap would no longer be available to view while the subsequent snaps would be.
“The Committee were therefore concerned that the subsequent snaps had the potential to mislead consumers.”
They concluded that both the blogger and the advertiser were to take note of their concerns.
Grace tweeted about the incident, claiming that because she was brand ambassador, she was told she didn’t need to use the hashtags.
