Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Shameless celebs tweet all the way to the bank
advertising watchdog, the ASA, for posting links written by his Nike sponsors. The ASA deemed the tweets to be more like adverts.
What’s becoming increasingly clear is that Twitter – once a forum for celebrities to express their real feelings – is steadily becoming a business. The biggest stars can earn up to £100 000 a year (in ready cash or the equivalent in freebies) simply for telling their followers their sponsored “thoughts”.
Here, the Mail looks at some of the worst offenders. ELIZABETH HURLEY
Engaged to Aussie cricketer Shane Warne, the self-styled “mum, model, actress, bikini designer, organic farmer” is worth £7 million and has 30 000 followers.
In between flirting with her fiancé on Twitter and endless plugs about her bikini and bedding ranges, and acting work, Hurley also finds time to subtly mention Estee Lauder – without giving away the fact she is paid thousands by them each year for promotional work.
In May, she wrote “salivating over my new @ Estee Lauder goodies”, and a day later: “And thank you @Estee Lauder for the arsenal of lipgoodies.” Shameless Plugging: 6/10 VICTORIA BECKHAM
The Spice Girl turned fashion designer, 39, has 6.3 million followers – and is worth a cool £40m.
She tweets a lot about jetsetting and her clothing line, and plenty about how handsome her husband is, but she still manages to fit in a few plugs for some of the many items she gets free or hugely discounted.
These include Chloe slip- pers (“How cute are these!!!), white designer shoes (“Obsessed with my new white @ ManoloBlahniks), more shoes (“Thank you @Prada for my shoes!!! How posh, they have my initials on!!!”). And there is other designer gear which is all pictured (“Nicest socks ever! Comme de Garcons”; “Manolo Blahnik candles!!! Super chic.”) And even stuff for her 23-monthold fashion plate daughter ( and favourite accessory) Harper (“Super cute jelly shoes for Harper from Vivienne Westwood @FollowWestwood”).
Shameless Plugging: 9/10 KIM KARDASHIAN
The curvy 32-year-old Amer- ican reality star, aka “the world’s worst role model”, recently gave birth to a daughter called North West ( yes, really). She’s reportedly worth £14m and has 18 million Twitter followers.
She tweets a lot about the Kardashians’ huge “Kollection” of wares – just about anything from clothes to bronzing lotion.
Everyone, it seems, wants to get that Kardashian look and she is there to help you – by plugging the stuff she is given.
If you want to be as sparkly as her, you could try “Necklace sparkling on my face # LoveDannijoJewellery”. If you want her decorative look, there is “chic @ lampsplus lighting”. Or, if you have sore lips “@EOS to the rescue!” It goes on.
Shamless Plugging: 10/10 JUSTIN BIEBER
The Canadian singer is beloved by obsessed teenagers around the world, which is why 41 million follow the 19-year-old on Twitter.