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Influencers banned from promoting skincare, health... in Australia. (6)

04-25-2022 10:26 AM #1 matuloo (Legendary Moderator)
Influencers banned from promoting skincare, health... in Australia.



It's been in the news for a month or two already, but I guess most of you didn't know about this new law that goes into effect on July 1st, 2022.

The life of an Influencer is about to get more complicated in Australia, especially for those who are active in health/beauty related niches/verticals.

Influencers who make a large portion of their income through paid skincare promotions will have to change tact. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has announced a new law banning influencers from being paid to promote skin and healthcare products.
This can be a significant blow to the female influencer scene, since the bulk of them do promote skin care, diet and similar health related products.

Included in these are sunscreens, protein powders, vitamins, supplements and skincare products... that's quite a
The new law basically makes it illegal to receive payment and even free goods in exchange for a review.

It's not a total ban, the influencers can still promote these products, they just cannot share their personal opinion in case they have been paid to do so

What they can no longer do is publish testimonials, offering their personal experience or opinions, if they have been paid or gifted a product or service for free.

So, someone can post about the benefits a product claims to have, but not make other claims or make statements from a first-person perspective. They can say “These vitamins will support skin health”, but not, “These vitamins made my skin look brighter and younger and changed my life.”
And to make the lives of influencers even more complicated: As of July 1, influencers will also have to remove historical testimonials that have been paid, gifted or incentivized, or risk being penalized.

Source: https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/hea...28-p5a0dw.html

Interesting changes to say the least... let's see if the other countries follow suit and introduce similar regulations.

04-26-2022 05:04 PM #2 vortex (Senior Moderator)

I could certainly see how that would be beneficial to consumers. But as an affiliate I hope the same won't happen in North America or Europe. If it does, it would be more difficult to get UCG content. We shall see.


Amy


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04-26-2022 08:22 PM #3 matuloo (Legendary Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by vortex View Post
I could certainly see how that would be beneficial to consumers. But as an affiliate I hope the same won't happen in North America or Europe. If it does, it would be more difficult to get UCG content. We shall see.


Amy


Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums
Yup, this could end UGC in the affected niches. Even though, there is still that clause that bans them from making positive claims IF THEY GOT PAID for doing so. So they could claim the video is their honest opinion and they could enter into some other colab with the advertiser and charge for that... it would be tricky to prove

04-27-2022 09:03 PM #4 vortex (Senior Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by matuloo View Post
Yup, this could end UGC in the affected niches. Even though, there is still that clause that bans them from making positive claims IF THEY GOT PAID for doing so. So they could claim the video is their honest opinion and they could enter into some other colab with the advertiser and charge for that... it would be tricky to prove
That's true! Unless the government has access to the transaction data of sites like backstage or fiverr etc., there's no way to prove that anyone got paid (or received a free product).

Reassuring thought!



Amy

04-27-2022 11:34 PM #5 jeremie (Moderator)

Anyone interested, here is the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code:
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L01661

See Part 6 Article 24 Testimonials and endorsements

It states "valuable consideration", which is broader than payment. When you read the note, influencers and direct sellers may not need to receive a payment for this article to be applicable to them.

IMO, there is still the option for an influencer:
- not to endorse the product, but just present it
- to invite a non-influencer friend on his/her channel to endorse the product

Here is what the TGA regulates, which therefore must comply with the code
https://www.tga.gov.au/what-tga-regulates

In particular, the following products may not be concerned:
- cosmetics which do not claim a health benefit
- diet plans or info products

04-28-2022 09:33 AM #6 matuloo (Legendary Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by jeremie View Post
Anyone interested, here is the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code:
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L01661

See Part 6 Article 24 Testimonials and endorsements

It states "valuable consideration", which is broader than payment. When you read the note, influencers and direct sellers may not need to receive a payment for this article to be applicable to them.

IMO, there is still the option for an influencer:
- not to endorse the product, but just present it
- to invite a non-influencer friend on his/her channel to endorse the product

Here is what the TGA regulates, which therefore must comply with the code
https://www.tga.gov.au/what-tga-regulates

In particular, the following products may not be concerned:
- cosmetics which do not claim a health benefit
- diet plans or info products
Yup, even receiving a free product counts.

And people will definitely try all kinds of creative approaches to go around the law In the end, it will depend on ho serious the regulator is about this, as they can adjust the regulation on the fly, working in all the tactics and tricks that the influencers would pull

I'm really curious to see whether this becomes the norm across several GEOs or not.

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