Sports giant Nike are facing repercussions after a brand ambassador of theirs, Manchester United footballer Wayne Rooney posted something on his Twitter page that could be deemed as advertising.



The Advertising Standards Authority is investigating complaints that the message “My resolution - to start the year as a champion, and finish it as a champion” that sat above the hashtag and link “#makeitcount gonike.me/makeitcount” clearly identified it as an endorsement and not a personal opinion.

According to the full story on Marketing Week:
"The ruling, which is expected next month, will be the second by the ASA on a Twitter campaign and will provide further guidance to brands on what is an acceptable use of Twitter for marketing purposes."
The previous incident of this nature occurred last March, when Mars escaped censure over tweets sent by Katie Price and Rio Ferdinand seemingly promoting Snickers.

The celebrities sent a series of unusual tweets, such as Price commenting on the debt problems in the Eurozone and Ferdinand on knitting, before ending with a picture of themselves eating a Snickers bar with the line “You’re not you when you’re hungry @snickersUk #hungry #spon”