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#Paid to wear this half-finished dress
David Furlonger: How do you feel when a celebrity is paid to tweet or blog about a love for a product they wouldn’t be seen dead wearing?
Does your favourite celebrity influence your spending habits? If he or she raves on social media about a new perfume, food or fashion item, do you rush out and buy it? If the answer is yes, don’t be embarrassed. Millions, perhaps billions, of people do this. It takes only one product mention from Kim Kardashian to elicit more than a million likes — which probably translates into thousands of purchases. But how would you feel if the celebrity is paid to tweet or blog about a love for the product but wouldn’t be seen dead wearing it? Would you feel cheated? For broadcast, print, billboards or online, South African advertising is strictly governed in terms of what it can claim and how it can claim it. However, there is a grey area on what is called the "social media influencer". Kelly Thompson, a partner at law firm Adams & Adams, says influencers are paid by brands to promote products "either in money or in kind". For example, clothing brands will give free goods to celebrities or fas...
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