This was published 4 years ago
Rozalia Russian fights back in Tom Ford ad row
Oh dear. Ad Standards, the advertising industry regulator, must have thought it was on a winner when it went after Melbourne influencer Rozalia Russian, the former ballerina dubbed the woman who “reigns supreme as Australia’s ultimate style crush”.
Russian, wife of nightclub owner and one-time Melbourne lord mayor candidate Nick Russian, was caught out for a January 14 Instagram post where her immaculately manicured hand elegantly clutched a 30ml bottle of Tom Ford Soleil Blanc Eau De Parfum.
“Summer in a bottle @tomfordbeauty,” opined Russian.
But hang on.
Under new rules from the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Code of Ethics, sponsored Instagram posts must be identified as such, with appropriate hashtags.
Anna Heinrich, the 2013 The Bachelor winner who married her reality television beau Tim Robards, was judged to be the first influencer to breach the new rule about distinguishable advertising.
AANA’s updated Code of Ethics came into effect on February 1, and Heinrich’s post, an advertisement for clothing brand Runaway The Label from February 11, was found to breach the new rule.
It showed Heinrich in a strapless Runaway The Label green frock, which she captioned: “Turning my apartment into a Runway. Then back to my PJs I go! Wearing: @runawaythelabel.”
The Ad Standards Community Panel ruled Heinrich did not clearly enough indicate the post was sponsored, and it upheld the breach of the rules.
Similarly, it ruled Russian’s post had breached the Ad Standard rules for failing to identify that the post was sponsored. But it noted that the advertiser did not respond to the Ad Standard Community Panel’s inquiries.
But there’s just one major problem.
“Rozalia is not a party to the complaint,” a spokeswoman said. “The picture in question was not a sponsored post. Further information will come to light in due course.”
Estee Lauder, which manages Tom Ford Beauty in Australia, said: “We are currently working with Ad Standards Australia to resolve this matter. At Tom Ford Beauty, we do not engage in paid influencer partnerships and the post in question was not sponsored.”
Ad Standards was yet to respond to CBD’s inquiries.
It looks like it could end up being red faces at the industry regulator, and there’s not a Tom Ford Beauty product to deal with that.
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Stephen Brook is a special correspondent for The Age and CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age. He is a former media editor of The Australian and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via X or email.
Samantha Hutchinson is the AFR's National Reporter. Most recently, she was CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Before that, she covered Victorian and NSW politics and business for The Australian, the AFR and BRW Magazine.Connect via X or email.