Olympic stars warned over Twitter plugs for sponsors as fair trading watchdog cracks down on 'deceptive' advertising
- Some atheletes being paid up to £500,000 to become 'face' of major brands
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Britain's Olympic hopefuls are shamelessly advertising everything from cars to breakfast cereal on Twitter after signing lucrative sponsorship deals – without declaring they have a relationship with the brands.
Athletes have been excitedly tweeting about their new cars, the benefits of face cream, and even nail varnish.
In some instances Olympians have been paid up to £500,000 to be the ‘face’ of major brands, while others have been inundated with freebies from firms hoping for a plug.
Raving: Olympic champion swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who tweeted a picture of her new BMW
But the athletes could find themselves in trouble with the Office of Fair Trading, which has warned against ‘deceptive’ advertising on Twitter and told celebrities they must make it clear if they are being paid, in cash or with gifts, by a company.
Diver Tom Daley and swimmer Rebecca Adlington are among those who have used their Twitter pages to endorse brands such as BMW, Adidas and Cadbury to their thousands of young followers.
After receiving beauty products from Elizabeth Arden, double gold medallist Miss Adlington, 23, wrote: ‘Oh my, received some amazing Elizabeth Arden products today! Very needed as the chlorine is killing my skin at the minute.’
Shameless: Diver Tom Daley, who has a deal with Mini, posted this image of his car
And when BMW changed the cars it had given her, she tweeted: ‘Last drive in my AMAZING BMW 6 series today!! Sad times but excited to get the X5 for the winter!’
Subsequently, after receiving her brand new BMW, she wrote: ‘In Derbyshire for the weekend and very glad I have the right car for the drive up here!!! All about BMW X5 on country roads!! #lovingit.’
Diver Tonia Couch, gymnast Louis Smith, hurdler Perri Shakes-Drayton, modern pentathalon competitor Nick Woodbridge, and track cyclist Dani King are just a few of the other Olympians who have promoted BMW on Twitter.
Miss Couch, for example, wrote: ‘Omg ive just picked up my new sponsored car :) yay its amazing thanks @Ocean_BMW.’
Synchronised swimmer Jenna Randall tweets almost daily about her five main sponsors. Her recent posts include: ‘Special delivery!! @KelloggsUK thank you so much!! #yummyBreakfast for the next few months’, and: ‘Using my #BraUn silk-epil 7 Epilator... Legs feel amazing! All ready for training tomorrow.’
Namesake: Cyclist Jess Varnish, 21, posted a photo of nail varnish she was sent by the aptly-named American brand Jessica
Welsh hurdler Dai Greene, 25, seemed surprisingly excited by the ‘amazing’ headphones given to him by Red Bull, while discus thrower Lawrence Okoye said he was ‘loving’ his new Land Rover.
Cyclist Jess Varnish, 21, posted a photo of nail varnish she was sent by the aptly-named American brand Jessica, founded in 1969. She even gave the brand a bizarre plug after setting a new world record. Posting a photo of her gold nails, she wrote: ‘@JessicaNails I won the team sprint at London world cup and we set a new WORLD record! Wearing Jessica nail Varnish!!’
Top athletes have already come under fire for focusing too heavily on their advertising deals, rather than their training. Britain’s diving coach Alexei Evangulov said Tom Daley’s media and sponsorship commitments meant his Chinese rivals were working ‘three times harder’.
Daley, 17, has deals with Mini, Nestle and Adidas and mentioned the sportswear firm eight times in a month on his Twitter account in tweets and retweets. He also tweeted a picture of his Mini with the words: ‘My amazing parallel park into the smallest space ever!!!’
Excitement: Diver Tonia Couch tweeted this picture, writing 'Omg ive just picked up my new sponsored car:)
The athletes have joined the ranks of celebrities such as glamour model Katie Price and actress Liz Hurley, who have all advertised products to their Twitter followers.
For many of the athletes, their fame will be shortlived and they are desperate to cash in on the home Olympics. Gab Stone, agent for gymnast Louis Smith, said recently: ‘We are very keen to make the most of this unique opportunity. We are almost talking about setting certain athletes up for life.’ This window of opportunity is closing though – as soon as the Games begin, the athletes are forbidden from advertising products because they could clash with the official sponsors.
But while some athletes, such as swimmer Miss Randall, clearly list their sponsors on their Twitter profiles, others do not.
The Office of Fair Trading now wants to see people declare their affiliations to brands on their social networking sites.
A spokesman said: ‘Online advertising and marketing practices that do not disclose they include paid for promotions are deceptive under trading laws.’
BMW said its athletes were ‘not contractually obliged’ to promote the cars on Twitter, but said it was ‘pleased’ that they appeared to be enjoying them so much.
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