Be clear, A-listers
Stars in Cîroc crosshairs: ‘Truth’ group
Sean “Diddy” Combs helped to make Cîroc a bestselling vodka — but he and scores of other celebs never said that they were paid to hawk it, according to a consumer watchdog group.
The singer was singled out in a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission on Monday night for flouting the agency’s disclosure rules.
The agency requires influencers to acknowledge their paid relationship with a brand by including “#ad” in their social media posts.
Combs did not do that in hundreds of Instagram posts of him posing next to a bottle.
The entertainment mogul also serves as the brand manager for Cîroc, which is owned by spirits conglomerate Diageo.
The advocacy group, Truth in Advertising — which leveled similar allegations earlier this year against DJ Khaled, who is paid to promote Cîroc on social media — found 1,700 Cîroc ads on Instagram by 50 influencers who failed to disclose their financial re- lationship with the brand.
Singers Bow Wow and French Montana and supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio are among the offenders, the group found.
Tina.org’s findings show “that when it comes to pro- moting Diageo’s Cîroc brand on Instagram, anything goes: kids in Cîroc ads, Cîroc-fueled misogynistic ads and even a boozedrinking Santa who needs to spread the ‘liquid love,’ ” the group wrote of the posts in a letter to the FTC.
Diageo, for its part, said in a statement that “we are investigating this as a matter of urgency” and that the company has a “rigorous marketing code.”
In April, the company was notified of hip-hop impresario Khaled’s numerous posts, including a Snapchat video of himself pouring Belaire sparkling wine and Cîroc vodka over his Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.
He removed some of the posts and also added “#ad” to others.
The latest report from Tina.org grew out of the Khaled investigation, a spokeswoman said.