Watchdog rules on Twitter postings

Twitter has faced scrutiny from the advertising watchdog after questions were raised over a Mars marketing campaign on the social networking site.

The regulator was called in after complainants challenged whether postings from the official accounts of footballer Rio Ferdinand and model Katie Price could be clearly identified as advertisements.

In its first investigation involving Twitter, the Advertising Standards Authority dismissed the objections and ruled the two series of tweets did not breach industry codes.

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The online postings – which both related to Snickers – popped up on the micro-blogging site within an hour in January.

Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand started by saying he was getting into knitting while Price said “Great news about China’s latest GDP figures!!” and continued with posts involving quantitative easing and bond market liquidity. In each case the fifth posting promoted Snickers.

The watchdog accepted Mars’s use of Twitter and said consumers would understand each series was a marketing communication.

No further action was necessary, it decided.