In 2020, the Swedish Consumer Agency updated the guidelines for marketing in social media and blogs.
Stricter requirements for clarity were introduced: readers must quickly and clearly understand what is advertising. Sponsored posts must be different from non-sponsored ones.
After a court decision, the Swedish Consumer Agency was also able to put its foot down against the advertising label "in collaboration with..." – which is not considered clear enough that it is an advertisement.
"A softer word"
But so far, there are no more precise guidelines for how an ad should be labeled on social media.
"In paid cooperation with ...", "Advertising" or "Advertisement" is okay, as long as it is clearly visible, says Charlotte Söderlund, lawyer at the Swedish Consumer Agency.
- The important thing is that the reader understands that payment for the post has been paid. Then you need to describe clearly that it is advertising. Otherwise, it will be misleading.
Why do many influencers shy away from calling advertising advertising, do you think?
"The basic idea of the marketing method is that it should appear as genuine as possible. Then it is possible that "cooperation" is a softer word than "advertising".
The Language Council: Difference between advertising and cooperation
Maria Bylin, linguist at the Swedish Language Council, is on the same track – "In collaboration with..." is about presenting your advertising in a better light.
From a general linguistic perspective, however, there are problems," she says. There are major differences in the meaning of the words cooperation and advertising.
Hear the Swedish Language Council's Maria Bylin about the grey area between advertising and collaboration in the clip above.