Singapore now has its own ridiculously photogenic marathon runner, BUT...

Is this quickly turning into a big PR booboo?

Tan Xing Qi| December 07, 06:21 PM

Step aside, ridiculously photogenic guy. Our own ridiculously photogenic girl was born yesterday at the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS).

Source: Hardwarezone Source: Hardwarezone

 

Everyone's all smiles this early morning at @marathonsg! In my trusty #adidassg gear! #scms2015 #scms

A photo posted by Andrea Chong (@dreachong) on

That's fashion blogger Andrea Chong – henceforth known as the ridiculously photogenic girl (who is also apparently an Adidas spokesperson) – cutting through a mostly-walking crowd with her stylo Adidas gear (everyone else seems to be wearing the same sleeveless top).

adidas andrea Source: Adidas Facebook

All's well and dandy until some people started to question why her bib number was not registered under her name or that she may not have completed the race.

chong scms

When you enter her bib number, a Kulvin Kaur pops up instead.

Screen Shot 2015-12-07 at 5.22.21 pm

We are pretty sure Chong doesn't have another name so we decided to check out who Kulvin is.

Lo and behold!

According to her Facebook page, she's an intern with PR firm Edelman Singapore and she was at the race yesterday.

kulvin kaur SCMS

#client #adidassg

Chong features in several promotional pictures for Adidas, while Kulvin's client is either Adidas or SCMS. Hmmm.

Just a note though, a participant is not allowed to transfer the bib to another person.

transfer scms

#Justsaying

So the major question people will be asking is this: are representatives of a sporting goods brand expected to finish a run if they post a photograph, decked out in the brand's gear, that appear to convey the message that they are running in one?

 

Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) starts consultation on social media advertising guidelines

In semi-related news, ASAS is holding a consultation from Dec. 7 to Jan. 8 to collect ideas and suggestions on a set of guidelines on digital and social media marketers' advertising activities.

In short the guidelines will "establish the levels of disclosure that are required of sponsored messages that appear on blogs and social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Marketers will be required to make sponsored messages distinguishable from personal opinions and editorial content in their posts and disclose any commercial relationships."

It would be interesting to see how ASAS will determine what constitutes disclosure, and how they will enforce the guidelines.

For example, will hash-tagging a brand in a post constitute as sufficient disclosure? Does George Clooney and Jack Black have to swear that they only drink Nespresso since the advertising tagline they say is 'What else?'

Who knows?

 

Top image is a screen shot of Andrea Chong's Instagram post.

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