The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2023
The Savoy's TikTok stay was an ad — Accor's contract said it wasn't
Lydia Millen's TikTok from The Savoy carried no '#ad' — the deal only covered Instagram. The ASA ruled the post was still an ad.
Accor · The Savoy · 2023-10
What happened
On 24 November 2022 influencer Lydia Elise Millen posted a video on her TikTok account @lydiamillen saying 'We've just checked into The Savoy in London for our annual Christmas shopping trip. This evening we're going to the theatre here at The Savoy and I need you to help me pick my outfit'. She tried on two outfits and asked followers to comment on which they preferred. No '#ad' or other label appeared anywhere in the post.
Accor (UK) Ltd t/a The Savoy said it had an ongoing commercial relationship with Ms Millen since early 2022, but it related only to Instagram advertising under a 'Fairmont Ambassadorship'. The stay featured in the video was part of that agreement, but content on TikTok was outside its scope — the TikTok posts were not paid for and were not ads. Ms Millen's representative said the same: those Instagram ads were labelled, paid for and signed off, and the agreement applied to Instagram only.
On 11 October 2023 the ASA upheld the complaint. The TikTok post contained similar content to the Instagram ad, and the further exposure on TikTok about The Savoy was likely to benefit the brand. Because the post was so closely linked to the Instagram ad and to the ongoing commercial agreement — under which Ms Millen was paid in hotel stays for posting content — it was also a marketing communication. With nothing in the post making its commercial nature clear, it was not obviously identifiable as an ad. The post breached CAP rules 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4 and must not appear again.
Why it happened
- The TikTok video carried the same content as the paid Instagram ad — a contract border did not stop the commercial intent crossing it.
- Payment came in hotel stays, not invoices — the ASA still found an ongoing commercial agreement behind the post.
- A clause saying 'Instagram only' is a clause a viewer cannot see — the audience never knew the relationship existed.
The lesson
A contract's fine print cannot do a label's job: Accor paid Lydia Millen in hotel stays for Instagram content, and her unlabelled TikTok from The Savoy was ruled the same campaign — and an ad.
Aftermath
The ASA told Accor (UK) Ltd t/a The Savoy and Lydia Elise Millen to ensure future marketing communications were obviously identifiable, making commercial intent clear upfront with a clear and prominent identifier such as '#ad'.
Sources
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