Influencer and author Zoe Foster Blake has accused the medical regulator of potentially reversing years of public health efforts to get Australians to wear sunscreen in a scathing message about its new social media code.
Using influencers on social media has become central to the marketing strategies of many companies. The TGA implemented the code in an attempt to rein in the wild west of health claims and some of the dubious information being spread to masses on various social media platforms., influencers were also ordered to remove historical testimonials that had been paid for, gifted or incentivised, or risk being penalised.
“Constraining personal opinions and testimonials – whether unpaid, paid or gifted – will create unnecessary friction for consumers who come to sunscreen reluctantly, even negatively, to begin with,” she said.“We do not agree that these measures have the potential to impact momentum in sunscreen usage.
Under the TGA code, Australian influencers can still endorse – or advertise – therapeutic products. They must simply disclose an advertisement with hashtags like #Ad or the words “paid partnership”.