In New Zealand, influencer content about a product or service that you post in return for any kind of payment, including free products, loans, travel or a discount or affiliate code, is an advertisement under the Advertising Standards Authority's codes and must be identifiable as an ad the first time someone sees it. The ASA recommends the label “Ad”, “Advert” or “Advertisement”, placed upfront and kept separate from your other hashtags, on every post and every story frame that contains ad content. The influencer, the advertiser and any agency share responsibility, and anyone can complain to the ASA.
The rules below come from the ASA's Influencers AdHelp information and its Guidance Note on Identification of Advertisements, both applying Rule 2(a) of the Advertising Standards Code: advertisements must be identified as such. The AdHelp guide says it is not legal advice and does not bind the ASA's Complaints Board, which makes the final call, but together they show how the rule is read.
When your content counts as an ad
The ASA defines advertising as any message whose content is controlled directly or indirectly by the advertiser and is meant to influence the audience's choices or behaviour. For influencers, the AdHelp guide (PDF) treats payment broadly: money, free products or services, credit, event tickets, travel and product loans all count. Its examples of content that is advertising include:
- Content made under a written or verbal agreement with an advertiser, or using words, key messages or hashtags the advertiser supplied.
- Posts where the advertiser approves the content or controls whether, when or how often it appears.
- Extra posts about the product beyond your contracted deliverables, whether or not the advertiser asked for them.
- Brand ambassador content about that brand.
- Any post containing a discount code or affiliate code, whether it is yours or someone else's.
- An advertiser's competition, prize draw or giveaway.
- Content about your own products or services.
Gifts get specific treatment. Content about a free product or service from an advertiser must be identified as advertising whether or not the advertiser required a post, suggested messages or had any previous relationship with you, because choosing who receives a gift is itself a decision about where the ad appears. Follower count is irrelevant: the FAQs say a post that meets the definition is an ad even if you only have a few followers.
Label decision table
Find the arrangement, then apply the label and placement. The answers come from the AdHelp guide and its FAQs.
| Arrangement | Ad content? | Label and placement |
|---|---|---|
| Paid post, reel or video | Yes | “Ad” at the start of the caption and on the first image, frame or thumbnail |
| Gifted product, no posting requirement | Yes | “Ad” first; “Gifted” or “FreeSample” can follow it, never replace it |
| Product on loan or a free trial | Yes | “Ad” first, then “FreeLoan” or “ProductTrial” if you want to explain |
| Your discount code or affiliate link in the post | Yes | “Ad” upfront; including the code is what makes it ad content, so the label is still needed |
| Ambassador or sponsorship deal | Yes when the content is about the sponsor; incidental branding, such as a sponsor's cap, is unlikely to be unless the contract pays for it | “Ad” first, with “Ambassador” or “[brand]Partner” after it if helpful |
| Your own product or service | Yes; you are the advertiser | A clearly commercial business account may need no label; a personal account mixing organic posts does |
| Re-sharing a client's post about your services | Likely, if the re-share is for commercial gain | Treat it like any other ad and label upfront |
| A product you bought, or a gift from friends or family | Unlikely, with no commercial incentive or link to the brand | No label; keep the receipt in case a report claims otherwise |
| An old gift with no ongoing relationship | May no longer be advertising, but repeatedly tagging the brand with it is likely to be | Label if you still tag the brand, use a code, or have any continuing deal |
Labels the ASA accepts, and the ones it doesn't
The AdHelp guide recommends Ad, Advert or Advertisement, with or without a hashtag, because they say what the content is in words most people understand. Extra labels that explain the relationship are welcome as long as they come after the main label and sit apart from it: the guide lists Gift, Gifted, FreeGift, FreeSample, ProductReview, ProductTrial, FreeTrial, Ambassador, WorkingWith followed by the advertiser's name, the advertiser's name followed by Partner, FreeLoan and PRSample.
- #sponsored. Not recommended. The FAQs explain that platforms use “sponsored” for boosted posts that brands pay to promote, so influencers using it for their own ad content cause confusion. This differs from Canada, where #sponsored is an accepted label, as our guide to Canadian disclosure rules shows.
- #sp. Not recommended, because consumers may not read it as advertising.
- #collab. Not enough on its own, though you can add it after Ad, Advert or Advertisement.
- Platform tools. Branded content or paid partnership tools can identify an ad, but if you are unsure the tool makes it obvious, add the label as well. See our guide to the Instagram paid partnership label.
The guide's list of common mistakes is a useful audit: a label below the first visible screen, a label lost among many hashtags, one hidden behind “see more”, a video where viewers only realise it is an ad at the end, text too small or too low in contrast, a spoken label that sound-off viewers miss, and sending followers to another influencer's post to work out what is advertising.
Pre-post checklist
- Decide whether any payment, gift, loan, code or contract is involved; if so, the post is ad content.
- Put Ad, Advert or Advertisement at the start of the post or story, in the title or thumbnail, or on the first image.
- Make the label large and high-contrast enough to notice on a phone, and visible without sound.
- Label every separate post and every story segment that carries ad content.
- Keep the label apart from your other hashtags and links, and add any explanatory labels after it.
- Do not rely on a statement in your bio; the guide says blanket profile disclosures are not sufficient.
- Check whether a sector code also applies: alcohol, children and young people, therapeutic and health products, gambling and financial advertising each have their own.
- Keep the brief, contract and any gift note, in case the ASA asks the parties what was agreed.
Sector codes bite hardest for alcohol and gambling. TikTok's Branded Content Policy, effective 31 August 2026, lists New Zealand among the markets where branded content for alcohol and for gambling is not allowed at all, whatever the label. Category rules in Australia, the UK and the US are covered in our guide to alcohol, gambling and vape sponsorships.
Joint responsibility: brands, agencies and overseas creators
The ASA expects advertisers and agencies to spell out identification requirements in their contracts, and in the note sent with a gift where there is no contract. If a breach is reported, they may be asked for evidence of those instructions; where an influencer ignored them, the guide says it is the influencer's responsibility to follow the contract and the brand should review the relationship.
Location does not get you out of it. The FAQs say the standards apply to advertising intended for New Zealanders: an influencer based overseas with a significant share of New Zealand followers must follow them, and so must a New Zealand influencer with a largely international audience if a significant share is local. The ASA's guide also reminds influencers that the Fair Trading Act 1986 applies alongside the codes, and the Commerce Commission says on its page about false claims of endorsement that implying a product has someone's backing when it does not is illegal.
How a complaint works
According to the ASA's complaints process page, anyone can complain about an ad in any medium. Complaints are not anonymous, although the complainant's details are not given to the advertiser, and a social media complaint should include a screenshot or a recording of the story or video. Accepted complaints go to all the parties for a response. If the advertiser amends or removes the ad and the Chair of the Complaints Board is satisfied, the complaint is settled; otherwise the Board decides, an upheld complaint means the ad must be amended or removed, and decisions are published. Parties can appeal only on set grounds.
For influencers the bigger cost is visibility. The AdHelp FAQs say published decisions name both the influencer and the advertiser, so a disappearing story is no protection, and an upheld story saved to your highlights must come down. If someone reports genuine organic content as an ad, you get the chance to respond, and proof that you paid for the product helps.
The Code changes coming in 2027
The ASA has published an updated Advertising Standards Code that applies to new advertising from 1 February 2027 and to all advertising from 1 April 2027. Its Rule 2(a) says advertisements must be identifiable as such, and its guidelines add that content controlled by an advertiser must not hide its commercial nature, that the audience must be able to tell it is engaging with an ad whatever the format or platform, and that disclaimers must be clearly visible. That reads as a restatement of the current approach rather than a new label regime, but recheck the AdHelp guide once the new Code is in force in case the ASA reissues it.
For a side-by-side with the Australian rules many New Zealand creators also deal with, see our guide to influencer disclosure in Australia.
Limitations of this guide
The AdHelp guide dates from August 2021 and, by its own terms, is not legal advice and does not bind the Complaints Board, which decides each case on its facts. The Guidance Note says its own examples have not been tested through the Complaints Board process. Sector codes for alcohol, health, gambling, financial products and advertising to children add rules beyond identification that this page only flags. The Fair Trading Act is enforced separately from the ASA process. For a high-stakes campaign, the ASA offers its paid AdHelp advice service, and a New Zealand lawyer can advise on the Fair Trading Act side.