ADS OR NOT? DJ KHALED FACES SCRUTINY OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS PLUGGING BOOZE BRANDS
ADS OR NOT? DJ KHALED FACES SCRUTINY OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS PLUGGING BOOZE BRANDS
AdAge
E.J. Schultz
A collection of watchdog groups has done the impossible: They slowed down DJ Khaled’s brand plugs on social media, at least for alcohol.
The hip hop star and so-called “King of Snapchat” has dialed back posts mentioning liquor brands after scrutiny from watchdog groups alleging that his boozey social media musings reached minors and were not properly labeled as ads.
Their complaint was led by Truthinadvertising.org, which advocates against deceptive marketing, and included groups such as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Public Citizen and The Center for Digital Democracy.
In a March 29 letter to Khaled and legal representatives, the organizations alleged that from June 2017 to March 2018 Khaled delivered alcohol related posts to underage users. According to their count, it happened 100 times on Snapchat, more than 190 times on Instagram, 30-plus times on Facebook and nearly 20 times on Twitter. The groups also alleged that Khaled failed to disclose his ties to alcohol brands on “the vast majority of these ads.” The letter singles out posts involving Diageo’s Ciroc vodka, Bacardi’s D’Usse cognac and Sovereign Brands’ Belaire sparkling wines and Bumbu rum.
Read more: http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/dj-khaled-faces-scrutiny-social-media-booze-posts/313062/