Soccer star Rio Ferdinand reprimanded by the ASA over PlayStation ad

The Advertising Standards Authority isn't happy with Ferdinand and Sony

Kirk McKeand | Dec 21, 2022

Soccer star Rio Ferdinand reprimanded by the ASA over PlayStation ad /

Rio Ferdinand has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Agency for improperly disclosing a sponsored advert he made with PlayStation

The contentious partnership was a series of now-deleted tweets, one of which showed a video of the former England star turned soccer pundit speaking about the upcoming Champions League final.

"Here's who I think will be taking home the [trophy]," the tweet said. "Class Day down at #PlayStationHouse ahead of the #UCLFinalv … @PlayStation #PlayStationPartner."

According to the ASA, the hashtag "#PlayStationPartner" wasn't sufficient and Ferdinand should have also included "#ad".

Sony claims its team told Ferdinand to include "#ad", but Ferdinand's representatives dispute this, claiming they were told to only use "#PlayStationPartner".

Elsewhere, Sony argued that the branding on the videos and the format in which they took place - a gamer interviewing the soccer pundit - were also indicators that it was sponsored content.

The ASA says there was no "clear acknowledgment of the commercial relationship between Mr. Ferdinand and Sony".

"[W]e concluded that they should have been clearly labeled as ads, and we therefore concluded that they breached the Code."

The ads were taken down and can not be reused. In the future, all partnerships must contain the correct hashtags.

Check out our list of the best sports games for more.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

Published Dec 21, 2022

KIRK MCKEAND

Kirk McKeand is the Content Director for GLHF. A games media writer and editor from Lincoln, UK, he won a Games Media Award in 2014 in the Rising Star category. He has also been nominated for two Features Writer awards. He was also recognized in MCV's 30 Under 30 list in 2014. His favorite games are The Witcher 3, The Last of Us Part 2, Dishonored 2, Deus Ex, Bloodborne, Suikoden 2, and Final Fantasy 7. You can buy Kirk McKeand's book, The History of the Stealth Game, in most bookstores in the US and UK. With a foreword written by Arkane's Harvey Smith, The History of the Stealth Game dives deep into the shadows of game development, uncovering the surprising stories behind some of the industry's most formative video games. He has written for IGN, Playboy, Vice, Eurogamer, Edge, Official PlayStation Magazine, Games Master, Official Xbox Magazine, USA Today's ForTheWin, Digital Spy, The Telegraph, International Business Times, and more. Kirk was previously the Editor-in-Chief at TheGamer and Deputy Editor at VG247. These days he works as the Content Director for GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage, serving media partners across the globe. You can check out Kirk McKeand's MuckRack profile for more. Email: kirk.mckeand@glhf.gg