Three influencers - including Geordie Shore's Chloe Ferry - are in hot water with the ASA after sharing adverts which told their followers they would be able to slash their debt by over 80%, with the Advertising Standards Authority saying the ads were 'misleading'. Those who made posts about Debt Slayers - which the ASA said should have been labelled more clearly as ads - include Ferry, who has 3.7 million followers, Helen Briggs from Ex On The Beach and TOWIE's Myles Barnett.
It is likely the stars will have been paid hundreds, if not thousands, for these posts.
Promoting the firm, Barnett wrote: 'One of my friends just got 81 percent of his debt wiped off. So if you've got debt above £5,000 - it could be credit cards, catalogues, car finance … a loan, anything like that, swipe up, there's more information on there … you can wipe off a big, big chunk of your debt.' Ferry, meanwhile, promised, 'This is a new fully regulated scheme that can help you write off 85% of the debt.'
The ads have come under fire as there were complaints they didn't highlight the long-term implications that can come with signing up for an Individual Voluntary Agreement, which is an alternative to bankruptcy, and can have long-term implications on credit rating or employment. Ashteck Media, which trades as Debt Slayers, also not provide any debt service, apart from passing on people's details to another company.
The BBC report that an agent for Ferry and Barnett said they would not work with debt management companies again, and that they 'accepted the 'wording of the posts was potentially in breach of advertising rules'. And that the agent for Briggs said her future marketing communications would be properly labelled. They also report that Ashteck says they would not work with influencers for promotions, and that those who reached out to the company 'were made aware of the risks and fees associated with IVAs'.
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