Brian O'Driscoll served with compliance notice by consumer watchdog over social media posts

FORMER RUGBY STAR Brian O’Driscoll and fitness coach Caroline O’Mahony have been served with compliance orders by the consumer protection watchdog.

It’s the first time that influencers have been served with compliance orders for failing to use the correct labels to disclose the commercial nature of their online content.

In October 2023 the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), alongside the Advertising Standards Authority, published guidance on influencer advertising and marketing.

This guidance instructed influencers to use the hashtag #Ad if their social media posts contain branded gifts or feature their own products.

The guidance addresses paid promotion, items ‘gifted’ by brands or PR agencies, and the advertising of own-brand products and services.

In April 2024, the CCPC wrote to 26 influencers in Ireland across a range of sectors and “reminded them of their obligations under consumer protection law in relation to labelling of content”.

O’Driscoll was served with a compliance notice from the CCPC when it was found that posts on his social media account continued to breach consumer law.

A Compliance Notice is a written notice directing a business or individual to remedy any breaches of consumer protection legislation. 

The CCPC said that O’Driscoll was found to have engaged in a misleading commercial practice following an inspection of his Instagram account, where he has over 370,000 followers.

It found there was a “failure to use the appropriate labels to disclose the commercial nature of the content published, relating to Zerofit Europe apparel”.

Fitness coach Caroline O’Mahony was also served with a compliance notice – she has over 822,000 followers on Instagram.

She was found to have failed to use the appropriate labels to disclose the commercial nature of content relating to Caroline O’Mahony Coaching.

A spokesperson added that the CCPC has several investigations ongoing in relation to influencers and further outcomes are expected this year.

Brian McHugh, chair of the CCPC, remarked that the influencer marketing on social media can “significantly shape consumers’ opinions and purchasing behaviours”.

“It’s important that when a consumer sees commercial content on social media, they can instantly recognise it for what it is,” said McHugh.

‘Misled’

McHugh said that CCPC research shows that almost a quarter of consumers who purchased a product as a result of an influencer promoting it subsequently felt misled.

“We will continue to conduct regular unannounced inspections and would remind influencers that they need to follow the law or potentially face legal consequences,” McHugh added.

The CCPC today published its annual Consumer Protection List for 2024, outlining its enforcement activities.

It said that five traders were prosecuted in court, including Tesco and Homesavers. And that 47 Fixed Payment Notices were served on traders including Aldi, Brown Thomas, Currys, Dunnes Stores, Londis, and Spar.

“We took five successful prosecutions under consumer protection law in 2024, a further three traders pleaded guilty in court in February 2025, and there are more cases on the way,” said McHugh.

He added that in 2023, the CCPC calculated consumer harm of nearly €1 billion per year.

Consumer harm is the loss that consumers experience, when, for example, they are misled by unfair market practices into making purchases of goods or services that they would not have otherwise made.

“Currently, the level of fines that can be issued for breaches of consumer protection law is not a deterrent for large businesses and that is why we are calling on the Government to give us the power to issue meaningful fines to companies breaking consumer law,” said McHugh.

“Allowing the CCPC to directly impose meaningful fines would send a clear signal to businesses that they must treat consumers fairly or face serious consequences.”

Written by Diarmuid Pepper and posted on TheJournal.ie