The Digital Chart issued by the Italian Advertising Self-Regulatory Institute in 2016 has so far represented the main tool of the Institute in fighting non-transparent digital marketing communications.
The scope of the Digital Chart was to conduct a survey of the most common forms of digital marketing communication, and its content resulted in guidelines on how to ensure that such communications (including brand endorsement by influencers, celebrities, bloggers, etc.) are always recognizable as such.
Recently, an ad hoc Regulation – the “Digital Chart Regulation” – has been issued by the Institute, and this incorporates the entire contents of the Digital Chart, which becomes an integral part of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Code, which has to be respected by all those who adhere to the Self-Regulatory System.
Indeed, an explicit reference to the Digital Chart Regulation has been inserted into Article 7 of the Code, which is dedicated to the principle of the recognizability of marketing communications.
The Digital Chart Regulation has immediately been enforced by the Advertising Self-Regulatory Body, which has recently issued an injunction for breach of the Code’s Article 7 against a famous Italian influencer, whose Instagram post, promoting a famous cosmetics brand, did not sufficiently clearly revel that it was the result of a commercial agreement with the brand.
