UK advertising watchdog cites 2 former reality stars for crypto ads on Instagram stories

cointelegraph.com:

The United Kingdom’s independent advertising regulator has upheld a complaint involving former reality show Love Island contestants Eve and Jessica Gale for “triviali[zing] investment in cryptocurrency.”

In a Wednesday notice, the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, said the reality stars promoted crypto in an Instagram story in June at the request of an influencer named Elizabeth O'Donell, upholding claims the ad was “misleading” and “irresponsible.” According to the regulator, O'Donell was not just providing trading advice for crypto as the Gales’ stories claimed, but promoting investing in cryptocurrencies without illustrating possible risks.

“We therefore considered the ads were addressed to a general audience who were unlikely to have any specialist knowledge of investing in cryptoassets,” said the ASA. “In the absence of any other information to the contrary, we considered that consumers would interpret the overall impression from the ads to mean that investment in cryptoassets was simple and risk free, even to those consumers who had only limited knowledge of cryptoassets.”

The regulator said because the ads were not “prepared with a sense of responsibility,” they violated the U.K. Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, adding the Gales’ story did not mention the possibility crypto prices “could go down as well as up” as well as their largely unrelated status in the United Kingdom. The ASA also alleged O’Donell and the Gales “took advantage of consumers’ inexperience or credulity” by not including information on capital gains taxes required to be paid on crypto profits.

In its ruling, the ASA said the Gales could not post the crypto ads “in the form complained about” again,