Watchdog bans ‘irresponsible’ Klarna adverts posted by four Instagram influencers that urged people to use ‘buy now, pay later’ service to ‘boost their mood’ during lockdown
- Advertising Standards Authority banned Swedish bank Klarna’s campaign
- Klarna hired influencers to encourage followers to shop online to boost mood
- Watchdog said the ads ‘irresponsibly encouraged use of credit to improve mood’
An Instagram influencer campaign that encouraged customers to use credit to ‘buy now, pay later’ to cheer themselves up during the lockdown has been banned.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned Swedish bank Klarna’s ‘irresponsible’ campaign after receiving a complaint from Labour MP Stella Creasy.
Klarna allows customers to pay for products in instalments with no fees or interest and has more than 10million customers in the UK.
In April the bank hired four influencers on Instagram to encourage their followers to use Klarna’s services to ‘boost their mood’.
An Instagram influencer campaign that encouraged customers to use credit to ‘buy now, pay later’ to cheer themselves up during the lockdown has been banned
Klarna claims that the adverts were intended to simply encourage customers to take care of themselves during the lockdown period and boost mental health.
Influencers Bradley Harper, Claire Menary, Aisha Master and Yasmin Fatollahy told the watchdog their posts were about the uplifting effects of products rather than shopping with Klarna.
The ASA said: ‘We acknowledge that purchasing non-essential items was likely to be a source of comfort for some people during the national lockdown. However, each ad promoted the use of Klarna’s deferred payments services.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned Swedish bank Klarna’s ‘irresponsible’ campaign after receiving a complaint from Labour MP Stella Creasy
Klarna allows customers to pay for products in instalments with no fees or interest and has more than 10million customers in the UK
In April the bank hired four influencers on Instagram to encourage their followers to use Klarna’s services to ‘boost their mood’
Influencers Bradley Harper, Claire Menary, Aisha Master and Yasmin Fatollahy told the watchdog their posts were about the uplifting effects of products rather than shopping with Klarna
‘We concluded that in the context of the challenging circumstances caused by the lockdown at the time, including impacts on people’s financial and mental health, the ads irresponsibly encouraged the use of credit to improve people’s mood.’
Stella Creasy told The Sun: ‘I complained to the ASA about the adverts companies like Klarna use because – just as with payday lenders- pushing people to spend money to make themselves feel better is irresponsible.
‘Especially in a pandemic with so many people are losing their jobs and struggling with being at home, its downright immoral.’
Klarna, valued at £7.48bn in September, boasts more than 90million users across the world and has 200,000 retailers.