Started from the bottom now we’re an IG model
The Champagne papi has changed up his usual envy inciting instagram style to promote a product. He usually posts images highlighting his concerts, outfit of the day, jewelry, and celebrity friends. Last week he opted for a post that seemed like product placement.
He took an image in a NormaTec Rapid recovery suit with a very promotional caption.
“After show recovery with my @ntrecovery aka the life saver. Ted in the cut with me faded off Virginia Black”
The Product:
- The target consumers are crossfitters, professional and collegiate athletes and endurance trainers. Maybe his concerts qualify him as an endurance athlete?
- They use compressed air to massage your limbs, mobilize fluid, and speed recovery.
- NormaTec retails for between $1595 and $2749, depending on the particular package you choose.
The Rules
Technically, both individual users and companies have to indicate if a particular post is an ad but there are ways around it. Rules were made to be broken.
- Some instagram influencers charge by the hour with two hour time slots going for over $200. The image is then deleted decreasing the need to disclose.
- Influencers with a smaller amount of followers usually post for free in exchange for free product which can be seen as a review rather than a sponsored post.
The FTC explains the ins and outs:
“If you write about how much you like something you bought on your own and you’re not being rewarded, you don’t have to worry. However, if you’re doing it as part of a sponsored campaign or you’re being compensated – for example, getting a discount on a future purchase or being entered into a sweepstakes for a significant prize – then a disclosure is appropriate.”
Lord and Failure
Last March retailer Lord & Taylor got busted by the FTC due to their highly successful social media influencer campaign. They selected 50 popular Instagram influencers to wear a Lord & Taylor dress with the hashtag “OOTD” on the same day. They paid the bloggers to wear the dress, the captions were edited by Lord & Taylor, and they all had to include a lord and taylor mention. The dress sold out by the next weekend.
None of the posts included the hashtags #ad or #sponsored which are used when a post is an advertisement. The FTC noticed and came down on Lord and Taylor! This resulted in a settlement and admission from Lord & Taylor that it broken FTC Laws.
The Verdict
It is not clear if Drake had any ulterior motives. He could have just really loved the product enough to break up his feed of hundreds of images of himself to include this. Whether it was an ad or not, this post was a huge get for Normatec. He praised the product and linked the company’s instagram page to all 26.5 million of his fans. The post has received over 611 thousand likes already. If you are a brand interested in working with celebrities or influencers, click the button below to learn more!