The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that social media posts by fashion influencer Grace Beverley failed to disclose their commercial intent as advertisements properly. The watchdog investigated six posts across Instagram and TikTok promoting Beverley’s We Are Tala fashion label that did not make clear they were ads, Campaign UK broke the story.

The posts in question include Instagram reels from October 2023 featuring Beverley describing and giving away items from Tala’s puffer jacket line. Her TikTok posts also came under scrutiny, with one showing Beverley trying on Tala clothing while stating, “It’s thrilling just being able to make clothes you wanted to buy.”

We Are Tala argued Beverley was so synonymous with the brand that disclosure was unnecessary and could be misleading. However, the ASA cited advertising codes requiring marketing communications to be “obviously identifiable” with clear commercial intent upfront.

The posts cannot appear again without proper ad disclosures prominently displayed. The ASA informed We Are Tala and Beverley to ensure future ads have clear identifiers like “#ad” to comply with marketing requirements for transparency. The ruling sets a precedent for the regulator’s expectations around cross-promotions by creators and their own brands on social media.