Today, I was doing my daily nose through them when I spotted a post from the lovely Sara Thomas from Pretty In Pink blog about specific guidelines when it comes to reviewing items or being paid to post content. You can read her post here and read the ASA's post here.
In a nutshell it basically states that if a company pays for content or a "positive review" then it MUST be disclosed (A little note stating that you received payment).
Now, my regular readers will know I have done both reviews and paid for content. I disclose on every post that I feel needs to be. But it turns out I needn't had to.
I sent an email to the ASA enquiring as to where I stood when a company sends me a product, for free, for a review. I always thought it had to be disclosed. Their reply certainly put me straight!
"Thank you for your email.
If you are sent the product for free that doesn’t present a problem as your subsequent review will be (should be) you own opinion, and we aren’t here to regulate opinion. However, if a company sends you a product for review and pays you to give it a positive review, then you should disclose this in your review so that your readers/followers are not mislead by the information you have provided. If you would like further clarification on the rules, please contact the Copy Advice team, who can provide free and confidential advice to bloggers and advertisers.
I hope this is helpful."
It turns out that you don't have to disclose on a product review as long as you weren't paid for a positive review. In all honesty, I would never accept a payment for a review, my reviews are always 100% honest, if I didn't like it, you'd know about it! I know other bloggers may not be the same but at least with this they can see how and what they need to disclose!
So, for all bloggers worried about if they're disclosing properly, I hope this helps.
