Chiara Ferragni, an Italian social media star with more than 30 million followers on Instagram, has apologized and promised to donate $1 million to a children's hospital in Turin after the Italian Competition Authority fined her and her companies $1.1 million for "misleading consumers," the Guardian reports.
In November 2022, Ferragni teamed up with Italian pastry brand Balocco to launch a special pandoro, a Christmas dessert.
The item was packaged with a pink box featuring Ferragni's name and logo, as well as an illustration of the social media star.
The item was advertised on Ferragni's Instagram account at the time as a charity initiative that would aid children who were being treated for bone cancer at the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin, Italy.
The Italian Competition Authority investigated the campaign and found that because the special edition cake was priced higher than its normal cakes, it believed that Ferragni's campaign was "misleading" consumers into thinking the increased price would lead to a hospital donation.
The Authority fined Balocco $460,000, while Ferragni and her companies were fined $1.1 million.
Ferragni apologized in an Instagram post on December 18, and pledged to donate 1 million euros to the hospital, but said she would be challenging the fine, claiming
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