McGregor issued with formal compliance notice from CCPC

FORMER UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been issued with a formal compliance notice by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), over alleged breaches of consumer protection law.

The notice is in relation to undisclosed paid promotions for Forged Irish Stout on social media.

The alleged contravention relates to Instagram posts published between June 2 and June 7, 2024, on McGregor’s account, @thenotoriousmma, which promotes his business interests to more than 45 million followers.

According to the CCPC, the posts promoted Forged Irish Stout without clearly disclosing that the content constituted paid promotion.

The regulator said the posts did not use “appropriate disclosure labels such as ‘Ad’, ‘#ad’, etc.” to make it clear to consumers that the endorsements were commercial in nature.

McGregor was told by the CCPC that he had until January 1 this year to rectify the situation and ensure he was compliant with the law, and that his social media channels will be the subject of further inspection to ensure adherence.

Under Irish law, the use of editorial content in media to promote a product, where a trader has paid for that promotion, constitutes a prohibited commercial practice if it is not clearly identified as such.