The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Danielle Long, Acting APAC Editor

July 23, 2018 | 2 min read

Australia’s Federal Government has come under fire for investing more than $700,000 on influencer marketing social media campaigns.

The #girlsmakeyourmove campaign, which ran over an 18-month period, saw the Health Department pay hundreds of influencers to post fitness photos on their Instagram accounts, according to a report by the Daily Telegraph.

The report also revealed a number of the selected influencers had previously been associated with extreme dieting or had been sponsored by alcohol companies.

The report has been met with backlash which prompted the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, to order an immediate review into the department's use of Instagram influencers.

The minister claims he did not endorse the posts and reportedly “found them offensive”. The Health Department is now “pausing and reviewing” its use of influencers.

The agency responsible for creating the campaign is no longer on the Government’s advertising roster.

The #girlsmakeyourmove campaign launched in 2016 and was inspired by Sport England’s award-winning This Girl Can Initiative. The campaign aimed to address the lower level of physical activity by young Australian women.

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