COLEEN, QUEEN OF TWITTER PLUGS
Millionaire WAG rages at fans who attacked her for tweeting about freebie bikinis when ‘people can’t pay their gas bill’
‘Blag yourself a bikini, you sad cow’
WI TH a f ootballer husband who reportedly earns €31,000 a day, Coleen Rooney c an certainly afford to splash out on a new bikini or two for her next exotic holiday.
Yet it seems the 27- year old proves the old adage that those who can afford to pay for things don’t have to.
For while Mrs Rooney and her husband, England striker Wayne, have a combined wealth of € 77 million, that has not stopped her f rom accepting free gifts from everyone from designer clothes brands to Mothercare — much to the disgust of her online followers.
Within moments of Coleen sending a gushing tweet thanking celebrity fashion designer Melissa Odabash for the free swimwear she had received last week, the WAG was l ambasted by her Twitter followers for accepting freebies — and f or gleefully parading them online.
Coleen’s tweet: ‘ Thank you @melissaodabash for my gorgeous bikinis!! I absolutely love them!! x’ sparked an angry backlash, with one commentator asking: ‘Millionaire husband and still accepting freebies, do you not feel bad when there’s people who can’t pay their gas bill?’
She was also branded ‘fat and dumpy’ by one Twitter user, after being photographed in a similar luxury two-piece swimsuit, also by Melissa Odabash.
Others criticised as ‘unreal’ her ‘endless’ product placement on the social networking site, while one user said she was ‘sickened’ by Coleen’s actions.
The row saw Mrs Rooney retaliate by telling one of her critics: ‘ Go and try and blag yourself a bikini you sad cow!!’
The unedifying exchange highlighted Mrs Rooney’s endless plugs for freebies ranging from spa vouchers to designer goodies and baby clothes.
With more than one million Twitter followers, the mother-oftwo is only too aware of how powerful her online endorsement is. So when Coleen isn’t tweeting her thanks for a free gift or product, she is using the social network to promote her own clothing lines with Littlewoods.
But it was all finally too much for some of her 1,083,297 followers, and last Monday one of them took umbrage with her tweet to Melissa Odabash, pointing out the star had again endorsed ‘another freebie’. Mrs Rooney defended her tweets, claiming that even rich people deserve freebies with the post: ‘ No it’s nice for people to gift people whether they have a lot or nothing! Not going to get anywhere being negative in life. You are one bitter person!! I don’t ask for things!’
While expecting her second son Klay, now nine months old, Mrs Rooney received a haul of free baby essentials from High Street store Mothercare — and promptly sent a tweet to her followers ‘ Got some great stuff f rom @ mothercareuk for our new baby!! Thank you!!’
The couple’s five-year-old son, Kai, hasn’t missed out either. In August Coleen tweeted a message to luxury childrenswear boutique Melanie Louise, which stocks mini Dior and Ralph Lauren, thanking them for the outfits she had received for her boys.
Coleen also posts endless gushing messages of thanks for items she claims to have paid for herself.
In April she tweeted ‘Loving my new converse! Thanks!’, while she has also posted fawning messages about hairstylists, protein drinks and clothes by label Miss F Couture.
While Coleen’s representatives refused to give an official comment, they did claim that, in all of these cases, she paid for the items herself.
It is not known whether she paid the full price, however.
In June 2012, Coleen’s husband Wayne was also criticised for endorsing products on his Twitter account.
The Man Utd forward was censured by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority for passing off an advertisement for Nike as a personal comment.
According t o ASA r ul e s , celebrities endorsing products on Twitter should really use hashtags such as #spons (for sponsor) or # ad to clarify that they are doing so.
Yesterday the ASA claimed that, as Mrs Rooney was not paid cash to send the tweets, she had not breached their guidelines.
Spokesman Matt Wilson said: ‘Any Tweet that is paid for and controlled must be disclosed, i.e. made clear it’s an ad.
‘It’s important to mention that the actual buck stops with the advertiser. If we received a complaint that a Tweet was misleading because it didn’t make clear the content was advertising we would investigate the advertiser, not the celebrity who has tweeted.’