Carlo Rienzi and Codacons: 104 complaints in 104 different prosecutor's offices spread across as many Italian cities and a series of judicial attacks against the Ferragni-Fedez duo, symbol of the customs of influencers and the role they represent in the market.
Rienzi is not satisfied with the complaints and what comes out of the investigations and is waiting for the dossier presented to the Financial Police to bear fruit.
President Rienzi, you risk going down in history as the man who broke the queen of influencers Chiara Ferragni. Are you aware of it?
“I actually think that Ferragni gave in on her own, through a series of sensational mistakes, and with a husband, Fedez, whose latest releases only make the situation worse, but I can certainly say that I was prophetic. When in 2020 we reported that something was wrong with the Ferragnez fundraiser for Covid, everyone, from the press to politicians, burned Codacons at the stake, launching a witch hunt against our association. Today, after 4 years and in light of the latest scandals, I can say that we were right and they were wrong. And that many should make a public apology, starting with Carlo Calenda.”
Has the strategy of filing a series of complaints in different prosecutor's offices been studied in advance?
“It is part of the statutory purposes of our association, which pursues consumer protection through legal instruments. After reading the Antitrust papers on the sanction to Ferragni and Balocco, we assessed that the issue was bigger than a mere administrative offense, and could constitute criminal hypotheses. However, the question arose about territoriality: the Ferragni companies are based in Milan, Balocco has its registered office in Cuneo, but the purchase of the pandori took place throughout the national territory, a circumstance which justifies the complaint to 104 Public Prosecutor's Offices from all over the world. Italy”.
What do you think of influencers and their commercial role?
“I believe it is a wild west where rules and limits are completely lacking, and where the consumer is the weak party who risks the most. A drift that leads to excesses and unfairness towards users, and which in some cases can become real crimes, such as misleading or hidden advertising. Companies must review their relationship with influencers, weighing more on the quality of the messages they want to launch than on the quantity of the audience to reach. Also because, as the Ferragni case teaches, when something goes wrong the reputational damage for the companies involved is enormous.”
Do you think there are other unclear sponsorships?
“Absolutely yes. Just open Instagram to see influencers photographing themselves in luxury resorts, spas, restaurants, or wearing famous designer labels and brands without clearly indicating the advertising nature of these messages. In recent months we have presented a dossier to the Guardia di Finanza, precisely to verify whether in such cases there are commercial relationships between the influencer in question and the spa or resort shown on social media, and to what extent these relationships are declared for tax purposes and taxed as required by law. And we expect a decisive intervention in this regard.”
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