Chiara Ferrani is at the center of the fake donation controversy. Chiara Ferrani Instagram capture
Chiara Ferrani (36), a world-renowned fashion influencer from Italy, is in danger of being kicked out of the advertising industry due to the ‘fake donation’ controversy.
According to the Italian daily La Repubblica on the 5th (local time), Coca-Cola recently withdrew its TV advertisement featuring Ferrani as its model. The advertisement was scheduled to air from the end of this month, right before the opening of the ‘Sanremo Song Festival’, Italy’s national song festival.
Recently, it was reported that Italian eyeglass frame manufacturer Safilo also terminated its licensing agreement with Ferrani.
The termination of Ferrani’s contract was largely influenced by the fact that Italian antitrust authorities imposed a fine of 1.075 million euros (about 1.55 billion won) on Ferrani last month and 420,000 euros (about 600 million won) on confectionery company Baloco. did. Authorities believed that Ferrani had conspired with Baloko to deceive consumers.
In November 2022, Ferrani launched a Christmas cake in partnership with the confectionery company Baloko, saying, “Let’s buy a Christmas cake and donate to a children’s hospital.” He introduced that he designed the cake himself. These cakes with his design label were sold for 9 euros (about 13,000 won) each, more than twice the normal price.
However, an investigation by Italian antitrust authorities found that Christmas cake sales were not donated to children’s hospitals.
Chiara Ferrani is at the center of the fake donation controversy. Chiara Ferrani Instagram capture
According to authorities, the only donation was 50,000 euros (approximately 72 million won) that Baloko donated to the children’s hospital a few months before the cake was launched, and did not donate any cake sales.
It was revealed that Ferrani received more than 1 million euros (about 1.44 billion won) from Baloco in exchange for promoting Christmas cakes.
When the results of the investigation were announced, controversy arose to the extent that even Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni voiced criticism.
In response, Ferrani posted an apology video on his Instagram on the 18th of last month. He said, “I made a well-intentioned mistake by linking commercial and charitable activities,” and belatedly announced that he would donate 1 million euros to a children’s hospital.
Ferrani is evaluated as a ‘super influencer’ with over 30 million followers. In 2017, she ranked first in the global fashion influencer rankings selected by Forbes.
However, it appears that this fake donation controversy will deal a decisive blow to its image.
Choi Jae-ho, Donga.com reporter cjh1225@donga.com
2024-01-06 05:21:00
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