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Au Vodka ads banned for targeting under-age teenagers

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Au Vodka ads banned for targeting under-age teenagers



TikTok and Facebook posts for a brand of vodka have been banned for targeting under-age teenagers, the regulator has said.

A TikTok post by social media influencer Lucinda Strafford in June showed her filling a large gold-coloured vending machine which featured the Au Vodka logo with cans of Au Vodka Juicy Peach, before she took a sip from one of the cans and said: “That is so good.”

Accompanying text read “an actual DREAM OMG [hearts emoji] [peach emoji] unlimited Juicy Peach cans [smiling face with tears emoji] & I can keep it?! @Au Vodka ad”.

A paid-for Facebook post in June showed a video of influencer Kai Cenat opening a box containing a bottle of Au Vodka and drinking, before accompanying text read: “Haven’t Tried Au Vodka Yet? Secure The Taste Of The Summer, Au Vodka Juicy Peach [peach emoji] Essences of summer in every sip. [palm tree emoji] Shop Now Pay Later Available [credit card emoji].”

Another Facebook post in April showed a woman saying “you need to try this” before she held a bottle of Au Vodka Juicy Peach to the camera.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received one complaint that the first ad was inappropriately targeted at people under 18 years of age and the second and third ads featured someone who was, or seemed to be, under 25 years of age.

Au Vodka told the ASA that Strafford was a well-known reality personality from the TV series Love Island and over the age of 25.

They provided a screenshot of her audience demographics on TikTok, which they believed demonstrated that all of her followers were aged 18 or over.

They stated the ad was designed for a general adult audience and did not contain any themes or visual elements that were likely to be of particular appeal to under 18s.

Strafford’s management agency provided the same screenshot which showed a breakdown of her followers on TikTok by age group.

Au Vodka said the second ad had location targeting applied to deliver it to audiences in the US.

While it may have been possible that a small number of individuals based in the UK would have seen the post, those situations were rare and fell outside of their intended paid-for targeting strategy.

They acknowledged that Cenat was 23 years old, but stated that this was compliant with advertising laws in the US, where they had intended the ad to be seen.

Au Vodka acknowledged that the individual featured in the third ad was 24 years old at the time the ad appeared and was therefore in breach of advertising regulations.

They stated her inclusion in the ad was an oversight, and that they had taken steps to enforce stricter checks in future.

Under UK advertising rules, ads for alcoholic drinks or ads that featured or referred to alcoholic drinks must not be directed at people under 18 years of age, and no media should be used to advertise alcoholic drinks if more than 25% of the audience is under 18 years of age.

Further, people shown drinking or playing a significant role in ads for alcoholic drinks must not be, or seem to be, under 25 years of age.

The ASA said it therefore expected to see evidence that Au Vodka had taken appropriate steps to limit the likelihood of children or young people seeing their ads.

Noting that the minimum age required to create a TikTok account was 13, the ASA said that the screenshot of Strafford’s followers did not include data for any followers aged between 13 and 17.

The ASA said: “Because the proportion of under-18s who followed Ms Strafford’s account was not included, we could not take the data about her followers into account and therefore could not be certain of the proportion of her followers who were under 18.”

It added: “We considered overall that the (Love Island) TV series was popular with young people, including under 18s, and that a number of individuals who were under the age of 18 with TikTok accounts were therefore likely to interact with content related to Love Island on the platform.

“Even if those individuals did not follow Ms Strafford, we considered it was likely that the algorithm would determine her posts to be of interest to them, meaning they would appear in their ‘For You’ page.”

The ASA ruled: “In the absence of specific targeting tools and relevant demographic data being provided, and in view of the way in which users engaged with TikTok, we concluded that insufficient care had been taken to ensure that ad (a) was not directed at people under the age of 18. It therefore breached the code.”

In relation to the second and third ads, the ASA found that Cenat’s age of 23 and the woman’s age of 24 meant those ads had also broken the rules.

The ASA said: “The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Au Vodka Ltd to ensure that their future ads were appropriately targeted and were not directed at people under 18 years of age.

“We also told them to ensure their ads did not feature individuals who were, or appeared to be, under 25 years of age.”



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Shutdown strain: US economy reels under layoffs and lost pay; food banks, small firms struggle to cope – The Times of India

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Shutdown strain: US economy reels under layoffs and lost pay; food banks, small firms struggle to cope – The Times of India


Washington’s economy is facing deepening distress as the longest-ever US government shutdown, mass layoffs of federal workers, and cuts to food assistance converge to hit households and small businesses across the capital region, AP reported.The Capital Area Food Bank, which supports more than 400 pantries and aid organisations across the District of Columbia, northern Virginia, and two Maryland counties, is preparing to provide 8 million more meals than planned this year — a nearly 20% increase.“This city has been hit especially hard because of the sequence of events that has occurred over the course of this year,” said Radha Muthiah, CEO and president of the food bank.The nation’s capital, home to roughly 150,000 federal employees, has been reeling from layoffs, the shutdown, and heightened law enforcement deployment. With the shutdown halting pay for hundreds of thousands of workers and freezing federal food aid, the economic strain has intensified.The District’s unemployment rate stood at 6% in September, one of the highest in the nation, compared with the US average of 4.3%. Economists warn that the regional impact of the shutdown will persist well after federal operations resume.Political reverberations are also being felt: Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s win in Virginia’s governor’s race was fuelled in part by her focus on the economic fallout of President Donald Trump’s policies on the region.Local businesses see sales fall, jobs vanishWashington’s restaurants, bars, and small retailers — heavily reliant on federal employees’ spending — have reported steep drops in sales. The Restaurant Association of Greater Washington said many eateries already operating on thin margins are now struggling to stay afloat as federal staff skip commutes and dining out.“Going without paychecks is causing cash flow issues for federal workers, and that’s spilling over into small businesses,” said Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow at Brookings Metro, quoted AP. “A lot of businesses rely on higher spending in Q4 to stay profitable for the year.”At The Queen Vic, a British pub in northeast Washington, co-owner Ryan Gordon said weekend crowds have halved. “We still had seats for people, which means the bars around us who get our overflow got nothing,” he said, estimating business is down 50% since the shutdown began.Families under pressure as aid stallsThe financial strain is also pushing middle-income families into crisis. Thea Price, a former employee of the US Institute of Peace, lost her job in March, followed by her husband’s job loss as a government contractor.After relying on SNAP food assistance and savings, the couple’s payments were halted by the shutdown. With limited options left, Price is leaving Washington for her hometown near Seattle.“We can’t afford to stay in the area any longer and hope something might pan out,” she said. “We’re just in a much different place than when these things started.”At the Capital Area Food Bank, forklifts are running overtime to meet growing demand. “We’re focused on getting food to those who need it,” Muthiah said. “But people are borrowing against their futures to pay for basic necessities today.”





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Millionaires value their personal trainers and therapists more than their wealth advisors

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Millionaires value their personal trainers and therapists more than their wealth advisors


Cg Tan | E+ | Getty Images

Millionaires are increasingly dissatisfied with their wealth managers and accountants, but they prize their personal trainers and therapists, according to a new survey.

Only a third of millionaires use a wealth advisor for their financial planning and 1 in 5 plan to fire their advisor due to high costs and poor service, according to a new survey from Long Angle, the professional network for startup founders and CEOs. Among those who do use an advisor, 26% are considering switching and 18% may stop using an advisor altogether.

By contrast, millionaires are highly satisfied with their personal trainers, therapists and other professionals who help with their overall wellness and family care, rather than financial issues.

“Improving your balance sheet or bank account doesn’t deliver the same emotional value as improving your health and family life,” said Chris Bendtsen, market intelligence lead at Long Angle. “Services for personal well-being or your children score the highest.”

The results highlight the growing importance of so-called “soft services” for the wealthy, as wealth managers, private banks and other firms look to attract and retain more high-net-worth clients. Once considered superficial next to financial advice and tax planning, services for health and wellness, family and kids, and travel and self-improvement are becoming core competencies in the business of advising and helping wealthy families.

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For the study, Long Angle surveyed 114 people worth at least $2 million, with a majority having net worths of between $5 million and $25 million. It asked them to rank their satisfaction levels on 14 of the most common professional services used by the wealthy, from investment advice and estate planning to sports coaching and housekeeping.

Personal services, child care and education ranked at the top for satisfaction. Out of a score of 1 to 10, millionaires surveyed gave their personal trainers an average score of 9.3, the highest satisfaction for any category of service. They were also happy with their investment-visa advisors (8.8), followed by their personal sports coach and therapist. They also placed high values on services for their kids, including private school (8.3) and day care (8.2).

Financial, home and property services ranked at the bottom. The results for wealth management are especially notable. The satisfaction levels for wealth advisors was 7.2, with most of the respondents saying they don’t even use an advisor. The use of financial managers increases with wealth. Among those with $5 million or less in wealth, only 22% use an advisor, compared with 44% for those with $25 million or more.

Their chief complaint is cost. The median spending for financial advisors is $10,000 a year, according to the survey. A majority of respondents pay a fee based on a percentage of assets under management. A third of respondents pay a flat annual fee.

Many clients increasingly see asset-based fees as inherently lopsided, since the manager gets paid more simply as a function of asset size rather than performance or service quality. The frustration over costs is one reason more advisors are moving to flat fees.

“Flat fee structures reflect a growing client preference for transparent pricing and reduced conflicts of interest,” the report said.

Beyond cost, wealthy investors are also frustrated with service.

“The general feedback is that advisors are often slow to respond and the advice is not personalized,” Bendtsen said.

Accountants and tax lawyers didn’t fare much better. While 82% of respondents use a CPA or tax professional for their taxes, 42% are considering switching tax advisors. Their main complaints were that CPAs were slow to respond and weren’t proactive or strategic enough.

On estate planning, half of millionaires surveyed don’t use an estate lawyer, although their use is highly dependent on wealth levels. Among those with $25 million or more, 69% use an estate lawyer. When it comes to satisfaction levels, estate attorneys ranked below pool services.

The poor grades for financial and legal providers, and high marks for more personal services, go beyond the predictable emotional benefits of feeling and looking better every day. Athletic trainers, sports coaches, teachers and even housecleaners seem to be better at providing the kind of highly customized, goals-driven help that the wealthy are looking for, rather than cookie-cutter solutions commonly provided by wealth managers and lawyers.

“What we heard is that the wealth managers, estate lawyers and CPAs feel more transactional,” Bendtsen said. “They don’t feel personalized.”

Services for children also get high marks and a high share of the wealthy’s spending. The respondents spend an average of $53,558 a year on their nanny, $30,000 a year on private school and $20,000 a year on day care. Private school and day care both scored above an eight on satisfaction despite the price.

Therapy is becoming increasingly important to the wealthy, especially the younger rich. Millionaires gave their therapists an average high score of 8.3. Their median spending on therapy is $5,000 a year.

Nearly half (43%) of millionaires under the age of 40 use a therapist, compared to only 13% for millionaires over 50. Among those who use a therapist, the main benefits cited were quality of care and impact, as well as kindness and having a personal connection.

“I think people under 40 are more proactive about their mental health and emotional well being,” Bendtsen said.



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Investor alert: Sebi flags digital gold risks; should you trust unregulated platforms? – The Times of India

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Investor alert: Sebi flags digital gold risks; should you trust unregulated platforms? – The Times of India


Markets regulator Sebi has warned investors against putting money into digital or e-gold products, cautioning that such instruments fall outside its regulatory framework and carry significant risks, PTI reported.The advisory follows Sebi’s observation that several online platforms have been promoting “digital gold” or “e-gold” as a convenient alternative to physical gold, without disclosing that these are unregulated products.“In this context, it is informed that such digital gold products are different from Sebi-regulated gold products as they are neither notified as securities nor regulated as commodity derivatives. They operate entirely outside the purview of Sebi,” the regulator said in a statement.Sebi warned that these offerings “may entail significant risks for investors and may expose investors to counterparty and operational risks.” It also clarified that investor protection mechanisms applicable to regulated securities do not extend to such unregulated schemes.The regulator advised that investors seeking exposure to gold should use Sebi-regulated instruments, including Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) offered by mutual funds, exchange-traded commodity derivatives, and Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) that are tradable on recognised stock exchanges.“All investments in Sebi-regulated gold products must be made through registered intermediaries and are governed by the regulatory framework prescribed by the regulator,” Sebi said.The advisory is aimed at protecting retail investors from unregulated entities that offer gold-backed digital investment options without sufficient safeguards, leaving investors vulnerable to fraud or default.





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