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Laura Whitmore, 37, has seen her TikTok and Instagram advert banned after users complained that it “targeted minors and encouraged irresponsible drinking”. The former Love Island presenter collaborated with The Muff Liquor Company, a gin and vodka brand, sharing videos of herself along with their products.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that her social media posts for the company should have been marked as ads.
The regulator pointed out that Laura was previously the host of Love Island, which was the fifth most-watched programme by those aged four to 15 years old in the second quarter of 2022.
Therefore, some users under 18 on TikTok, could come across Love Island-related content on the platform.
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The ASA released a statement explaining the reasoning behind its ruling and why some underage individuals may come across Laura’s posts despite not following her.
The statement read: “Even if those individuals did not follow Ms Whitmore, we considered it was likely that the algorithm would determine Ms Whitmore’s posts to be of interest to them, meaning they would appear in their ‘For You’ page.”
Discussing Laura’s videos dancing while drinking alcohol, the ASA said: “Whilst we acknowledged that the ads were presented in a light-hearted tone, nonetheless we considered that consumers would interpret the ads to mean that drinking alcohol could precipitate a change in an individual’s behaviour and could enhance an individual’s confidence.”
The ASA decided that the adverts must not be shown again.
The Muff Liquor Company have confirmed that Laura was a shareholder but was not being paid for the posts.
The company added that they asked the broadcaster to take down the posts within 24 hours of being made aware of the complaint.
Following the complaints, The Muff Liquor Company have announced that Laura’s future ads for them will be reviewed before being published.
TikTok said Laura had not used its branded content disclosure option, even though the post appeared to belong to this category.
Instagram told the Mail Online it had no comment on the matter.
Last year, Laura shocked fans after announcing she was stepping away from her role on Love Island after three years.
Taking to Instagram to share a snap of herself on the Love Island set, she wrote: “Some news! I won’t be hosting the next series of Love Island.
“There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects.”
Laura explained at the time that the reason behind her decision was that she was finding some aspects of filming for the show “difficult”.
After leaving the hit ITV show, the mum-of-one has bagged her own ITV show called Laura Whitmore Investigates.
Speaking about landing the role back in August, Laura said: “It’s a dream come true to have this platform and work with a brilliant team at ITV through this series of investigative films.
“Getting back to my journalistic roots, I hope we can shine a light on some really important topics and issues, and delve into a variety of serious and interesting real-life subjects.”
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