The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued a ruling against three posts by ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) provider Clearpay Finance Ltd on Instagram.

1. The first Instagram post, posted 5 October 2021, featured a meme showing two images of the character Seong Gi-hun from the TV show Squid Game. In the first image he was smiling, with text above that stated “Sticking to my monthly budget”. In the second image he looked stunned, and text above stated “ASOS offering 20% off site wide”. Text at the bottom of the image stated “T&Cs apply clearpay.co.uk/terms”. The post stated “*turns off push notifications* T&Cs apply http://clearpay.co.uk/terms #clearpay #LiveClear #Shopping #PayOverTime #PayBetter #PayIn4”.
2. The second Instagram post, posted 27 October 2021, featured a version of the ‘Tell me without telling me’ meme which included an image of multiple ASOS parcels with text above that stated “Tell me you love Clearpay without telling me you love Clearpay”. Text at the bottom of the image stated “T&Cs apply clearpay.co.uk/terms”. The post stated “Tag a friend who has a Clearpay addiction [eye emoji] Remember to spend responsibly and return some of those! T&Cs apply clearpay.co.uk/terms #clearpay #Shopping #PayOverTime #PayBetter #PayIn4 #ASOS”.
3. The third Instagram post, posted 20 January 2022, featured an image of a pie chart titled “Why I need new clothes”. The majority of the pie chart corresponded with the key that stated “[insert brand here] is having a 40% off sale” and a small section of the pie chart corresponded with the key that stated “I need jumpers for winter”. The post included the caption “Why am I like this [woman raising hand emoji] #clearpay #shopping”.

The ASA challenged whether the ads were irresponsible, because they encouraged people to spend more than they could afford.

Regarding the first post, the ASA concluded that by making light of not sticking to a monthly budget, the ad encouraged consumers to use a form of credit with delayed payment to pay for non-essential purchases in situations where they did not have the budget to do so. Because the ad encouraged people to spend more than they could afford, the ASA found that the ad was socially irresponsible.

Regarding the second post, the ASA found that, by making light of not having self-control when shopping, the ad encouraged consumers to use a form of credit with delayed payment to pay for non-essential items when they could not necessarily afford them.

The ASA noted the caption in the ad reminded consumers to spend responsibly and to return some of their purchases. The Authority considered that whilst some consumers may return all or part of their purchase, not all would. The ASA therefore considered the statement did not significantly alter the core message of the ad. Because the ad encouraged people to spend more than they could afford, the ASA concluded that it was socially irresponsible.

Regarding the third post, the ASA found that, by making light of not having self-control when shopping, the ad encouraged consumers to use a form of credit with delayed payment to pay for non-essential purchases because they were on a promotion when they could not necessarily afford them. Because the ad encouraged people to spend more than they could afford, the ASA concluded that it was socially irresponsible.

All three posts breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Social responsibility).

The Authority says the ads must not appear again in the form complained of. The ASA told Clearpay Finance Ltd to ensure that their ads did not encourage people to spend more than they could afford.