User generated Facebook comments subject to advertising
standards
The Advertising Standards Board has handed down two landmark
decisions, raising the bar on social media responsibility and
creating further challenges for businesses.
Complaints were made against the VB beer and Smirnoff vodka
Facebook pages regarding comments and material posted by Facebook
users. For the first time, the Board found that posts by third
parties on a Facebook page constituted advertising, and must comply
with industry guidelines and consumer law:
"A Facebook site of an advertiser is a marketing
communication tool over which the advertiser has a reasonable
degree of control and could be considered to draw the attention of
a segment of the public to a product in a manner calculated to
promote or oppose directly or indirectly that product... As a
Facebook page can be used to engage with customers, the Board
further considered that the Code applies to the content generated
by the
