Matt Le Tissier and John Hartson have been reprimanded for suggesting CBD products "could prevent, treat or cure human disease" on social media.
Former Southampton star Le Tissier and ex-Celtic striker Hartson have both used Twitter to endorse Supreme CBD, a company set up by former boxer Anthony Fowler. They both did so without informing their substantial followings that they were being paid for the promotion.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated complaints and found their tweets were not clearly identifiable as marketing communications. Le Tissier had claimed the cannabidiol products were a “game changer for people with anxiety/depression any aches/pain or insomnia”, while Hartson said they were “magic” and “help you sleep so much better with less anxiety”.
“The ASA understood that there was a financial agreement in place between Supreme CBD and both Mr Hartson and Mr Le Tissier, and that they both received commission for sales generated from the use of their personalised codes by consumers,” the ASA said. “Those personalised codes were therefore directly connected with the supply of goods provided by Supreme CBD, and because of that [the] posts were considered ads.”
It added: “We told Supreme CBD, Anthony Fowler, John Hartson and Matt Le Tissier to ensure their future ads were obviously identifiable as marketing communications. We also told them to ensure their future ads did not state or imply that the products could prevent, treat or cure human disease.”
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Le Tissier appears to have taken the feedback on board, having deleted previous posts about the product. A new pinned tweet on his account, from February 12, promotes his “favourite products”, CBD gummies and muscle rub, containing the disclaimer “#ad”. It promises his followers 40 per cent off with his unique code.
Hartson, 48, had received “small remuneration payments” as part of a verbal agreement with Supreme CBD, but has now deleted the posts and stopped working with the company. Supreme CBD had argued it was not responsible for Hartson’s tweets, which went out to just under 400,000 people.
Former Wales player John Hartson was reprimanded by the ASA (Simon Stacpoole/Getty Images)Le Tissier has nearly 650,000 followers on the platform, having pivoted from football to become a prominent voice among vaccine sceptics. The 55-year-old, who was sacked by Sky Sports from his job on Soccer Saturday in August 2020, is speaking alongside Katie Hopkins at the Weekend Truth Festival in May.
The former Saints midfielder believes he was pushed out by the mainstream media after expressing his views on coronavirus. "I went into working in the media from 2002 onwards until late August 2020, which was an interesting scenario where I lost my job,” he explained in 2022. “Obviously the pandemic started in 2020 in March - and very early on in that I had my doubts as to what was really going on.
"I felt early on there was a massive overreaction to it by the governments. And that's where it all started for me with questioning the narrative and probably ended up with me losing my job at Sky."
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