{"id":197132,"date":"2023-12-20T11:49:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T11:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/?p=197132"},"modified":"2023-12-20T11:49:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T11:49:00","slug":"how-italys-biggest-influencer-was-forced-to-make-grovelling-apology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/world-news\/how-italys-biggest-influencer-was-forced-to-make-grovelling-apology\/","title":{"rendered":"How Italy&apos;s biggest influencer was forced to make grovelling apology"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> How Italy&#8217;s biggest influencer Chiara Ferragni was forced to make grovelling apology to her 30 million fans&#8230; after trying to have her cake and eat it: &#8216;Misleading claim&#8217; that pandoro sales would fund children&#8217;s hospital leads to global humiliation<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The hugely popular Italian model and designer had promoted the special pink Christmas edition of a pandoro cake for makers Balocco last year<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>But customers were found to have been duped into thinking proceeds would go to charity, when in reality 50,000 euros would be donated regardless of sales<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Italy&#8217;s biggest influencer was forced to make a grovelling apology this week after being fined one million euros (\u00a3800,000) by Italy&#8217;s anti-trust authority.<\/p>\n<p>Chiara Ferragni recieved the antitrust fine for misleading claims linked to sales of a Christmas cake which she said would raise money to help children with bone cancer.<\/p>\n<p>The case has attracted significant negative publicity for Ferragni, one of the world&#8217;s most famous fashion influencers with nearly 30 million followers on Instagram, with criticism coming at the weekend even from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.<\/p>\n<p>The hugely popular Italian model and designer had promoted the special pink Christmas edition of a pandoro cake for makers Balocco last year.<\/p>\n<p>Pandoro is an alternative to the more famous panettone.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/20\/10\/79165513-12884905-image-a-3_1703066981758.jpg\" height=\"950\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Italy &#8216;s biggest influencer Chiara Ferragni recieved the antitrust fine for misleading claims linked to sales of a Christmas cake which she said would raise money to help children with bone cancer. A social media post shows Ferragni, 36, holding the special edition cake she created in a pink box as she kneels in front of a Christmas tree<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by Chiara Ferragni \u2728 (@chiaraferragni)<\/p>\n<p>Social media posts show Ferragni, 36, holding the special edition cake she created in a pink box as she kneels in front of a Christmas tree.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her followers were told that the cash raised would go to Turin&#8217;s Regina Margherita Hospital for children, and money raised was said to be earmarked for a new scanner to help detect types of bone cancer.<\/p>\n<p>However, after a year-long investigation, Italy&#8217;s competition watchdog AGCM announced the fine of 1.075 million euros on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>It found that consumers had been duped into thinking that by buying a Ferragni-branded pandoro they were contributing to the charity and hospital.<\/p>\n<p>The AGCM also fined cake maker Balocco 420,000 euros.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The conspirators had justified the high nine euros (\u00a37.70) price by saying the more cakes they sold, the more the children&#8217;s clinic would receive,\u00a0AGCM found.<\/p>\n<p>But in, fact, the inquiry heard, Ferragni and Balocco had agreed that just 50,000 euros (\u00a343,000) would to the hospital regardless of how well the cake sold.<\/p>\n<p>The regulator added that Ferragni made no personal payments to the hospital, while her companies received 1 million euros from Balocco for the branding initiative and related promotional activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, AGCM has fined Ferragni 1.075 million euros, which is around \u00a3920,000, while cake producers Balocco were issued with a 420,000 euro (\u00a3361,000) penalty for their part in the scam.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/20\/10\/79165383-12884905-image-a-1_1703066956004.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The case has attracted significant negative publicity for Ferragni (pictured in July), one of the world&#8217;s most famous fashion influencers with nearly 30 million followers on Instagram , with criticism coming at the weekend even from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/20\/10\/79165519-12884905-image-a-2_1703066965501.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferragni&#8217;s followers were told that the cash raised would go to Turin&#8217;s Regina Margherita Hospital for children, and money raised was said to be earmarked for a new scanner to help detect types of bone cancer<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/20\/10\/79165515-12884905-image-m-17_1703068929785.jpg\" height=\"760\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferragni on Monday admitted to a &#8216;communications error&#8217; in an apology to her fans in an apology video posted to her Instagram page, which has almost 30 million followers<\/p>\n<p>Ferragni on Monday admitted to a &#8216;communications error&#8217; in an apology to her fans.<\/p>\n<p>Sounding contrite and almost tearful, the 36-year-old said she would donate\u00a0<span>one million euros to Turin&#8217;s Regina Margherita Hospital &#8211; the paediatric hospital at the centre of the controversy &#8211; to give &#8216;concreteness&#8217; to her apology,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But she also said she would challenge the fine itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ms Ferragni said that she had not given sufficient oversight to the communication surrounding the sales of the Balocco-brand pandoro with her logo, and that she would no longer tie in charity with commercial activities.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I realise I have made a communications error &#8230; my error, in good faith, was to link, via communications, a commercial activity with a charity one,&#8217; Ferragni said in an Instagram video.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ferragni told local media on 15th December: &#8216;I&#8217;m sorry that, after all my and my family&#8217;s commitment in recent years on the charitable activity front, we persist in seeing the negative in an operation in which everything was done in good faith.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>She added: &#8216;The one with Balocco was a commercial operation like many I do every day. In this particular one, I wanted to underline the charitable donation made by Balocco at the Regina Margherita Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;For me, it was a fundamental point of the agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She continued: &#8216;Knowing that the machine that allows us to explore new therapeutical treatments for children suffering from osteosarcoma and Ewing&#8217;s sarcoma is now there in the hospital is what matters most.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/20\/10\/79095895-12884905-Consumers_believed_that_they_would_have_been_helping_to_purchase-a-6_1703067048381.jpg\" height=\"793\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Consumers believed that they would have been helping to purchase a new machine for the therapeutic treatment of children suffering from Osteosarcoma and Ewing&#8217;s Sarcoma<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/20\/10\/79095901-12884905-The_36_year_old_said_she_would_donate_a_million_euros_to_the_Reg-a-7_1703067051798.jpg\" height=\"793\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 36-year-old said she would donate a million euros to the Regina Margherita, the Turin-based paediatric hospital at the centre of the controversy<\/p>\n<p>Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer while Ewing&#8217;s sarcoma describes forms of cancer that can occur in the bone as well as in soft tissue.<\/p>\n<p>Ferragni, who has two children with Italian rapper Fedez, said she plans to appeal the verdict. &#8216;My family and I will continue to give to charity as we have always done because I will never want to give up this part of my life.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;And since I consider the decision taken against me to be unfair, I will challenge it in the competent bodies.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Balocco also reportedly plans to appeal.<\/p>\n<p>Its press release upon launching the cake in 2022 said: &#8216;The historic Piedmontese brand Balocco, recognised and appreciated throughout the world for the excellence of its Christmas offer, presents an exclusive novelty: the Chiara Ferragni pandoro&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The release said sales of the cake would: &#8216;be used to finance a research path promoted by the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin, through the purchase of a new machine that will allow us to explore new avenues for the therapeutic treatment of children suffering from osteosarcoma and Ewing&#8217;s sarcoma.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>In a speech on Sunday,\u00a0Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised\u00a0those who make money from misleading charity claims, in a clear reference to Ferragni.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/20\/10\/79165511-12884905-image-a-5_1703067030178.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferragni, who has two children with Italian rapper Fedez, said she plans to appeal the verdict<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The real models to follow are not the influencers who make a lot of money by wearing clothes and showing bags &#8230; or even promoting expensive cakes that make people believe they are charitable,&#8217; Meloni said, without explicitly naming Ferragni.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We have to explain to young people that creating (Made in Italy) products is much more extraordinary than just showing them off,&#8217; Meloni said in the speech on the final day of the festival of her right-wing Brothers of Italy party.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Ferragni started as a fashion blogger and went on to sell clothing, accessories and makeup under her own brand in addition to doing promotional work as an influencer. She is also on the Tod&#8217;s luxury fashion group board of directors.<\/p>\n<p>In her latest post on Instagram, just one day after posting her apology video, she showed off her family&#8217;s stunning new villa in\u00a0Lake Como.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12884905\/Chiara-Ferragni-Italys-biggest-influencer-forced-make-grovelling-apology.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Italy&#8217;s biggest influencer Chiara Ferragni was forced to make grovelling apology to her 30&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":197131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28134],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Italy&amp;apos;s biggest influencer was forced to make grovelling apology - 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