KSI: Youtube star’s Instagram video promoting JD Sports breaches Advertising Standard Agency’s code

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An Instagram post from Youtube star KSI promoting JD Sports has been banned with the Advertising Standards Agency concluding that it breached their code

An Instagram post from Youtube star KSI promoting JD Sports has been banned. The 29-year-old posted a video set to music on his Instagram account, which boasts 12.7 million followers, back in November.

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The video was shot at a bowling alley and included close-up shots of trainers and KSI himself. Other people in the advert can be seen wearing branded sportswear.

The video ends with a shot of the JD Sports logo under text: "King of the Game." The post was also captioned: "Head over to the @jdofficial YouTube channel to watch the full length film #kingofthegame".

"jdofficial" and "@adidasoriginals" were also tagged in the video. In wake of the ad being banned, JD Sports said viewers would have known it was an ad and that it did not need to be labelled as one.

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KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, told the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) that he believed the references to the retailer in the video made it clear to consumers that the video was a snippet from an ad that was seen on TV.

After receiving a complaint, KSI amended the caption to include #ad in order to "mitigate any risk of consumers being misled". The ASA say it ‘welcomed’ assurances that the caption was amended, but it was not clear at the time when the video was initially posted.

It added: "We welcomed Mr Olatunji’s assurances that the post had been amended to include #ad. However, at the time the ad was originally seen, the commercial intent behind the post was not made clear upfront and the ad was not obviously identifiable as such. We therefore concluded that it breached the Code."

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Both KSI and JD Sports were advised by the ASA to ensure their future ads were "obviously identifiable". The ASA said: "We told JD Sports and KSI to ensure that in future their ads were obviously identifiable as marketing communications and made their commercial intent clear upfront, for example, by including a clear and prominent identifier such as #ad."

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