Two Swiss sports celebrities rebuked over Instagram posts

The Swiss Fairness Commission has rebuked two influencers over non-declared advertising made in posts made on Instagram, Swiss public television SRF has learned.

The decision concerns a post each by snowboard champion Iouri Podladtchikov and mountain biker Jolanda Neff, according the SRF report published on Friday. SRF has seen the decisions, which are the first in Switzerland concerning influencer advertising.

The move comes after the Swiss Foundation for Consumer Protection filed a complaint with the Swiss Fairness Commission against Swiss tennis star Roger Federer and several other celebrity “influencers”, accusing them of “stealth advertising” on Instagram and other social media sites.

The celebrities do not have to fear fines, as the Swiss commission can only issue warnings.

Signal

Nevertheless, the head of the Swiss Foundation for Consumer Protection, Sara Stalder, told SRF that the decisions in both cases sent a strong signal, as the confirmation of the association’s complaint “made things clear for influencers”.

A spokeswoman for Podladtchikov said they would not be commenting at present; Neff’s manager told SRF that the athlete accepted the decision and was pleased that the chapter was now closed.

The Swiss Foundation for Consumer Protection is demanding stricter rules against product placement and secret online advertising, similar to those found in neighbouring European countries.

Currently, the Swiss law against unfair competition and guidelines for fair advertising state that advertising must be properly labelled, but do not specify how. The foundation points to best practices in countries like Sweden, which it says has much clearer guidelines to identify when a post is an advert via the use of hashtags, different fonts and layouts.