UK watchdog bans 'irresponsible' Klarna Instagram ads
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an Instagram campaign by Klarna for encouraging customers to take on debt during the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, four influencers were paid by the buy now, pay later specialist to promote its services to get people purchasing things that would "boost their mood".
Bradley Harper, for instance, was seen in a new outfit, with the caption saying Klarna was "helping me get ready for the day ahead in lockdown and lifting my mood".
MP Stella Creasy complained to the ASA, calling the ads "irresponsible".
Klarna denied this and said the campaign aimed to imply that the products were lifting the person's mood, and was not pushing the use of its offering.
The ASA recognised that buying such items was "likely to be a source of comfort for some people during the national lockdown".
However, it added, each ad promoted the use of Klarna’s deferred payment services.
The ASA considered that “the respective influencers had linked buying beauty or clothing products through this service with enhancing their mood during an uncertain and challenging period, when many people were experiencing difficult circumstances and isolation during the lockdown, including financial concerns and mental health problems”.
It ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form.
“We told Klarna Bank, and influencers Bradley Harper, Claire Menary, Aisha Master and Yasmin Fatollahy, that their future advertising must not irresponsibly encourage the use of Klarna’s deferred payment service, particularly by linking it with lifting or boosting mood,” the ASA concluded.
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