A six-day stay at a four-star hotel in Dubai. That is what a competition organized by the City Council promises, which the footballer Karim Benzema broadcast on June 14 on Twitter and Facebook. It has more than 20 million subscribers on the first platform and 44 million on the second.
Like many athletes, the star of the Saudi club Al Ittihad sometimes becomes an influencer, highlighting various brands. But while the law now requires these influencers to report any publication of a commercial nature, Karim Benzema does not specify that what looks very much like an advertisement is “sponsored” content.
Message in english
“The promotion of goods, services or any cause […] it must be explicitly indicated by the mention “Advertising” or the mention “Commercial collaboration” as specified in article 5 of the law regulating influencers promulgated on June 9.
However, if it were to be considered a real announcement, Karim Benzema’s tweet could quickly become a textbook case. Always according to the text, the influencers in question are those who address “in particular an audience established on French territory”. However, the player’s message is written in English, which may rule out this hypothesis.
With Tech & Co, lawyer Raphaël Molina believes the former Real Madrid striker’s tweet is likely illegal. “As a French international, we can assume that it is also aimed at a French audience,” he analyzes, recalling that in the event of an inspection, the DGCCRF will use a series of clues to determine if article 5 of the Law for the regulation of influencers affects it.
An opinion that is not shared by the lawyer Alexandre Archambault, who for his part considers that, in this context, Karim Benzema “continues to be an economic actor under foreign law, promoting a service relating to a country not belonging to the European Union, all in English ”.
The French can participate
To establish its set of clues, the DGCCRF could look at the bases of use of the contest promoted by Karim Benzema. But here again, the information is partly contradictory.
These clearly state that the game is intended for the inhabitants of eleven European countries, including France. This would suggest that the message posted on social networks is directed at French Internet users.
But what is most surprising, the latter, on the other hand, forget about the organization of the trip: the lucky ones will be able to take off from ten European countries, that is, all those mentioned at the beginning of the text, except France. If the lucky ones were in France, they would have to go through a neighboring country, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain or Italy.
Contacted by Tech&Co, the DGCCRF has not yet responded.
Source: BFM TV
