Nike has been reprimanded by advertising regulators after it used the personal Twitter accounts of footballers Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshire to promote its Make It Count campaign.
The sportswear giant is the first UK company to have a Twitter campaign banned by the ASA after tweets on the England pair's pages were ruled to be undeclared advertisements.
One tweet posted from Rooney's account stated: "My resolution — to start the year as a champion, and finish it as a champion...#makeitcount gonike.me/makeitcount".
Injured Arsenal midfielder Wilshire posted (to little avail): ""In 2012, I will come back for my club — and be ready for my country.#makeitcount.gonike.me/Makeitcount"
That's sort of chicanery is against the ASA's rules and the regulatory body said it was clear both tweets had been "agreed with the help of a member of the Nike marketing team."
Not misleading
Nike argued that both Premier League stars were well known for their association with the company and as such the tweets did not mislead either of the duo's followers.
However, the ASA's code says that advertisements must be "obviously identifiable" and ruled that these posts were not.
Earlier this year Rooney's Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand and model Katie Price were involved in a similar probe regarding tweets to promote Snickers chocolate bars.
These was ruled OK by the ASA as the tweets contained a #spon (sponsored) hashtag.
