Kim Kardashian West’s Instagram account is drawing attention, although not the kind she likes.
The Food and Drug Administration sent her a warning letter for a picture she posted in which she’s posing with a morning sickness drug. Not only ddi she fail to disclose the drug’s side effects to her 42.4 million followers, she also broke her own vow to keep her account off-limits to brands.
Kardashian tweeted and posted to Instagram a picture on July 19 of a medication called Diclegis, which boasts it’s the only “FDA approved medicine for treatment of morning sickness.” Since she was so “excited and happy” with it, she wrote on Instagram that she’s “partnering” with them to promote it.
Well, the endorsement didn’t sit well with the FDA proving that even the governmental agency keeps up with the Kardashians, albeit slowly. The agency slammed her for not including risk and side effects information on her Instagram caption in a five-page letter dated Aug. 7.
Kardashian included a (non-clickable) link to a safety webpage, but that wasn’t enough.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
“By omitting the risks associated with Diclegis, the social media post misleadingly fails to provide material information about the consequences that may result from the use of the drug and suggests that it is safer than demonstrated,” the FDA said.
The Instagram post has been deleted as of Tuesday afternoon, but the tweet has not.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos2
Diclegis’ maker, Duchesnay, told CNBC that it takes government warnings “very seriously” and admitted that Kardashian’s Instagram post needs to be “in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.” That explains why the Instagram post was deleted.
Now that she has complied with the FDA’s request, her Instagram account is back to favoring selfies over sponsors — for now.
More in Marketing
In the marketing world, anime is following in the footsteps of gaming
As marketers look to take advantage of anime’s entry into the zeitgeist, they might be wise to observe the parallels between the evolution of anime as a marketing channel and the ways brands have learned to better leverage gaming in recent years.
With the introduction of video ads and e-commerce, Roblox looks to attain platform status
Roblox is expanding into more areas than just ads in 2024. Much like platforms such as Amazon and Facebook have transcended their origins to evolve from their origins as online marketplaces and social media channels, Roblox is in the midst of a transformation into a platform for all elements of users’ virtual lives.
PepsiCo wants to remain a ‘driver of culture’ as it turns to influencers and activations amid rebrand
The soda-maker says it can translate cultural relevance into sales volume.
Ad position: web_bfu