Mikayla, Lo’real, and the Case of Ethic-less Social Media Marketing

One week ago, TikTok Beauty influence Mikayla Nogueira posted what looked to be a run-of-the-mill review video of a mascara product from Lo’real. But this one was different from the others for two reasons. First, Mikayla never stated the post was a paid ad or partnership. And second, Mikayla says “It looks like false lashes!” when they are false lashes instead of just the product. The video has received over 46 million views, with over 73,000 comments asking Mikayla why she is lying to her viewership for an ad.

According to the Federal Trade Commission ``When consumers see or hear an advertisement, whether it’s on the Internet, radio or television, or anywhere else, federal law says that ad must be truthful, not misleading, and, when appropriate, backed by scientific evidence”. But it seems the FTC hasn't caught up with the influencer economy and there are no laws or restrictions that hold content creators accountable for not lying to their audience. Or to the brand that pays them. Influencers are powerful and tend to have dedicated followers, many have voiced that if Mikayla had just included in the video that she was going to add fake lashes, her fans would have understood.

But whose fault is it? Is it the content creators? Who should've known to make her partnerships clear? Is it the brand? Who shouldn't have approved this submission and who would've made it clear that she was not to add fake eyelashes? For a long time, content creators have gone unsupervised and unregulated. It’s time to start paying attention to a rapidly growing force of power in marketing.