Catch the Breach Before the Complaint Exists

By the numbers

• 98% of celebrity alcohol posts reached a simulated 15-year-old account
• 1.7% carried a clear ad disclosure
• 5% of influencer posts were disclosed as sponsored

A compliance breach is usually found after the campaign is live. By then the ad is out, the determination is public, and pulling it is sunk cost.

Social media made the problem structural. When a brand works with an influencer, the creator publishes on your behalf, on their schedule, often with no legal review in the loop.

Sometimes the risky moment is not even briefed.

In a July 2026 ABAC determination, a panel upheld a complaint over a social media video of a "Pub and Pilates" event, because cans of a vodka product were woven into the exercise routine, implying a health benefit.

The brand argued the placement was incidental and that the instructor had picked up the can organically, unscripted and unbriefed.

The panel said intent did not matter. What mattered was the message a reasonable person would take from the finished video.

The breach stood.

That is the trap.

You can run a careful event, brief it properly, and still wear a determination for a few seconds of unscripted content that went straight to publish.

The wider numbers show how routine this is.

• A 2026 La Trobe University study of more than 85,000 Instagram posts found almost 98% of celebrity alcohol posts were visible to a simulated 15-year-old account.
• Only 1.7% of those posts carried a clear ad disclosure.
• Separate Australian research found just 5% of influencer alcohol posts were disclosed as sponsored content.

Under the Ad Standards Code of Ethics, advertising must always be distinguishable from content. Most of this would fail a basic pre-check.

That is the gap Checked It closes.

• Checked It pre-screens your creative against Australian codes in under 2 minutes.
• Built for marketers in regulated sectors like alcohol, insurance broking, gambling and supplements.
• Grounded in ABAC, AANA, FSANZ, TGA, ACMA and other codes.
• Know and fix issues before you send to legal for sign-off.
• Save time, reduce cost and manage regulatory risk.

I am opening a round of free invites to marketing and compliance leads in regulated sectors.

The offer:

• 5 free compliance reports
• No payment details needed
• Test your own past creative, an upcoming campaign or even a competitor's.
• Uploads are encrypted, private and only used to run reports.

Want one?

Email me at stusheridan@hiaitus.ai with your work email and I will send a personal access link.

Or start now at www.checkedit.ai