Molly-Mae Hague's Instagram post banned as a PrettyLittleThing advert without disclosure

The Instagram story, seen on October 31, shows the Pretty Little Thing (PLT) Creative Director wearing her brand's dress and encouraging fans to buy it - without any indication of its commercial intent.

Alongside the picture of the influencer in the dress, the post reads: “You can actually shop it now on PLT – Couldn’t not make it available for you guys too,” followed by a link to the retailer’s website."

One user, who was aware of Molly-Mae's position within the fashion brand complained that the post did not feature an advert disclosure. 

Undated screenshot taken from the Instagram page of Molly-Mae Hague. Credit: PA/ Advertising Standards Authority

Molly-Mae's Pretty Little Thing Instagram post banned over lack of advert disclosure

PLT has confirmed Hague's Creative Director role, and that their contractual agreement expressly states that she is required to include the #ad disclosure in posts.

The firm understands that not disclosing the advert was a mistake and has reminded Hague of the requirement to prevent any similar errors in future.

Molly-Mae's spokesperson has also said the #ad disclosure had been left off by mistake and would be used in future.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said: “We noted that the story had appeared in Molly-Mae Hague’s own account and did not contain any indication that it was a marketing communication.

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“We considered that, while some of her followers may have known that she was a creative director at PrettyLittleThing, it was not immediately clear to all consumers that she had a commercial interest in PrettyLittleThing from the post itself.

“We therefore concluded that the commercial intent behind the story was not made clear upfront and it was not obviously identifiable as a marketing communication.

“We welcomed the assurances from both PrettyLittleThing and Molly-Mae Hague that similar posts would include a label such as #ad in future.”