Italian Influencer Fined $1 Million Over Misleading Charity Cake Campaign

An Italian influencer was fined $1 million for promoting a pink-branded Christmas cake to her followers last year, claiming that the proceeds would be donated to charity. However, Italian authorities assert that the promised donation never materialised.

Chiara Ferragni who has almost 30 million followers on Instagram, has now apologised for misleading consumers over purchases of a Christmas cake, BBC reported. 

The media outlet said that the cake's producer had given money to the hospital months before launching it. The influencer has now promised to donate $1 million to the Regina Margherita Hospital. 

In a statement posted on Instagram, the influencer said that she made a "mistake in good faith... to link a commercial activity with a charitable one". 

She also said that she would appeal against the AGCM antitrust authority's ruling and called it a "disproportionate and unjust" fine.

Last Friday, the watchdog discovered that purchasers of the Ferragni-branded pandoro cake were deceived into believing that their acquisitions would support the acquisition of medical equipment for the hospital, specifically for treating children with Osteosarcoma and Ewing's Sarcoma, BBC reported. 

The controversy surrounding the situation prompted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to address the issue over the weekend, criticizing influencers who endorse "costly cakes that create the illusion of charitable contributions," although she refrained from mentioning Ms. Ferragni by name.

The AGCM watchdog said false advertising had exploited consumers' "sensitivity to charitable initiatives, especially those aiding children with serious illnesses". This violated Italy's consumer code and constituted unfair commercial practice, it added.

In November 2022, she introduced a cake product in collaboration with the Italian pastry brand Balocco. The pandoro, a traditional Italian Christmas dessert akin to panettone, came in a pink box instead of the usual festive red, adorned with an illustration of Ferragni along with her name and logo. At that time, she promoted the partnership on her Instagram as a charitable initiative supporting children undergoing treatment for bone cancer at the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin, Italy.