A complaint against Pippa O'Connor for publishing about her beauty brand, Poco Beauty, on Instagram without identifying the posts as advertisements has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The adverts published on the influencer's Instagram story featured products from the Poco Beauty range, and one image from the story included the label 'Own Brand' in the top-right corner.

Other images from the story included the company tag ‘@pocobeautyofficial’ in the bottom left-hand corner, but the complainant did not consider that the images had been identified correctly as advertising material with the #ad hashtag.

They said that none of the other images had been identified as advertising material, and therefore, viewers may not have been aware that what they were viewing was advertising material or that O'Connor was the owner of the brand.

The complainant considered that overall, it was very misleading and frustrating when social media posts which were marketing communications were not identified correctly.

In response, the advertisers said they considered the owner of the company to be one of Ireland's best-known faces online and that by engaging with any of their content, particularly over the past year, viewers would be aware they were the owner of the Poco Beauty brand.

They considered it may be a stretch to say that it was misleading to not label some stories/posts with the ‘Own Brand’ label.

The advertisers said they felt very passionate about the guidance, but the fact that they can’t use their own profile, without restriction, to promote Poco Beauty, which is an integral part of their personal brand is, in their view, verging on being anti-competitive.

They added that O'Connor had been largely compliant over the past number of years with ASA guidelines, but they have been advised to be more vigilant in the future regarding posts and stories relating to their own brand.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaint, stating that individuals are not precluded from promoting their own products on their own profile but that commercial marketing communications should be disclosed as such.

O'Connor established Poco in 2016 as a jeans brand before expanding into make-up and beauty products first sold online before Poco Beauty concessions opened in Dublin at Brown Thomas, Arnotts and Planet Beauty last year.

BOPOC Holdings, the majority owner of Poco Beauty operating company RONNOCOB Ltd, had turnover of €2.7m and net assets of €2m at the end of 2020, the last year for which accounts are publicly available. The company is jointly owned by O'Connor and husband Brian Ormond.

A total of 16 out of 20 consumer complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority in its latest bulletin were upheld, including several relating to social media adverts deemed to be misleading or insufficiently identified as adverts.

"The primary mission of the Advertising Standards Authority is to protect consumers from advertising that is harmful, offensive, or misleading," said Dr Orla Twomey, CEO of the Advertising Standards Authority.

"Our recent complaints bulletin emphasises our essential role in ensuring that advertising in Ireland is honest, decent, truthful, and compliant with the Code of Standards.

"We are deeply committed to fostering accountability and compliance in the Irish advertising sector. This includes not only removing advertisements that are breach the Code, but also proactively educating both brands and consumers on advertising standards. By doing so, we aim to build and maintain trust in the advertising sector."