This man is neither rich nor influencer: this is an illustration -

Daina Le Lardic / Isopix / SIPA

  • Product placement is a practice that users of social networks are now accustomed to.

  • Creators of content are now required to indicate their sponsored posts.

It's a topic that constantly hovers over the cutthroat world of social media.

Practices concerning product placements were recently brought to light by the “smoothing gate” around Marlène Schiappa, accused of having praised the merits of a Brazilian smoothing on her Instagram account.

In a statement, Me Julia Minkowski, her lawyer, said that the Minister Delegate in charge of citizenship "denies any use of product placement or sponsored post on Instagram" and that "any statement to the contrary would amount to defamation.

"

Rest assured, if you decide to flaunt yourself with a Kinder Bueno in your hands or if you advise your friends to try the new Garnier shampoo on your own, you too won't be making the headlines.

On the other hand, if you are an influencer or an influencer, and you are paid by the brand to promote a product, it might go wrong for you.

A semantics that leaves you perplexed

Whether on YouTube or Instagram, article 20 of the law for confidence in the digital economy is clear: “All advertising, in any form whatsoever, accessible by a communication service to the public online, must be able to be clearly identified as such.

The most common practice for this is to use hashtags cleverly placed at the end of the photo or video description.

The most common are #Ad (for "advertising" in the language of Molière) and # Sponsored.

But according to the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority (ARPP), which published a guide to good practices in 2019, care should be taken with not explicit enough collaborations.

Using the term “ad” in English would not be understandable to everyone.

Likewise, thanking a brand in the description text does not clearly notify Internet users that it is indeed an advertisement.

However, it was commonplace in the first part of the 2010s, when certain creators and certain creators of content were criticized for not clearly talking about partnership when it was obvious.

In 2015, Norman published a clip "inspired by the universe of

Assassin's Creed

 " while failing to indicate that it was produced by Ubisoft, the company which publishes the video game.

Google and Facebook on the road to simplification

In 2017, in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (or “Federal Trade Commission” in its original version) decided to slap on the fingers of around 90 influencers who did not respect the ethics that apply in the context of a partnership, whether it is a gift sending or a financial transaction.

To overcome this problem, the platforms managed by Google and Facebook have set up a system allowing influencers or YouTubers to indicate in one click whether any of their content is sponsored.

On YouTube, by checking the box “This video contains a commercial communication”, the public is informed of the partnership via an insert lasting twenty seconds at the beginning of the video.

On Instagram, the device is more or less the same.

When posting a photo, the advanced settings identify "a business partner".

Result: when you scroll to your news feed, the mention "Paid partnership with ..." appears on promotional publications.

A system now anchored in the habits of users of social networks who are more and more sensitive to the question, as evidenced by the controversies that are linked and resemble each other when influencers promote dropshipping sites.

And if ever the stars of the Web decided all the same to override these recommendations and not to indicate which were their sponsored publications, the General Directorate of Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF) could act.

Based on article L121-2 to 4 of the Consumer Code, a fine of € 300,000 and two years' imprisonment could then be requested.

Imagine the number of sponsored posts it would take to reimburse this amount!

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