Rooney censured over using Twitter as advertising platform

London -  Soccer star Wayne Rooney has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for passing off an advertisement for Nike as a personal comment on his Twitter  account.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling comes amid mounting concern that celebrities are cashing in by turning Twitter into an advertising platform and are promoting products and  luxury brands via tweets in return for freebies.

"We understood that, as part of their sponsorship deal with Nike, the footballers were required to take part in marketing activities and that both were asked to submit their own ideas as to  what to write as part of their tweet," the Daily Mail quoted ASA, as saying, in a statement.

"We considered there was nothing obvious in the tweets to indicate they were Nike marketing communications. In the absence of such an indication, for example #ad, we considered the  tweets were not obviously identifiable as Nike marketing communications and therefore concluded they breached the code," it added.

Famous faces such as Kim Kardashian, who has more than 15 million followers, could also earn thousands of pounds for a one-line endorsement on Twitter, while rap star and actor Snoop  Dogg and actress Lindsay Lohan have previously cashed in the same way.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission insists that stars must include the word 'ad' or 'spon' to show if something is an advert or sponsored.

The ASA, which is receiving an increasing number of complaints in relation to stealth advertisements via Twitter and Facebook, has banned any repeat of the tweets in their current form and

it has put Nike on notice that it must ensure any advertising on Twitter is clearly identified.