Last weekend, a heated controversy blew up in Chiara Ferragni's (36) face. The well-known influencer, who rose to fame in 2009 with her successful blog, The Blonde Salad, was fined by AGCM, Italy's anti-trust authority. The reason? In November 2022, Ferragni and confectionery brand Balocco launched a pandoro, whose packaging, marketing, and design featured logos and colors typically associated with the celebrity. The cake was sold for nine euros —twice the usual price— and purportedly, a portion of the proceeds was meant for a hospital. However, what Chiara and the brand promised was not entirely genuine.
As revealed by the Italian press, neither Balocco nor Ferragni had planned to give a percentage of the proceeds to the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin. Yet, the announcement of their donation wasn't entirely false either. So what happened? The company indeed donated ¤50,000 to the institution. However, this contribution was made months before the start of the pandoro campaign and, when the product was sold, the company decided to keep the profits. In fact, according to the AGCM, Balocco and Ferragni earned almost two million euros through this deceitful initiative.
As a result, the Italian courts fined the companies Fenice and TBS, owned by Chiara Ferragni, more than one million euros, and demanded another ¤420,000 from Balocco for "unfair commercial practices". According to the Antitrust Authority, all involved parties violated their duty of professional diligence, "developed a deception", took advantage of the sensitivity of their consumers and made them believe, wrongly, that they were contributing to the purchase of a new device to treat osteosarcoma and Ewing's Sarcoma.
After the news went viral, Ferragni's social media platforms were flooded with criticism and even offensive remarks. At first, the influencer kept silent. However, on Monday, she chose to respond and take responsibility in front of her nearly 30 million followers. "I have always believed that the most fortunate have the responsibility to do good. Those are the values that have always guided both me and my family, and those are the values we instill in our children. We also tell them that they can make mistakes. But we teach them that when that happens, we have to admit it and, if possible, rectify it," she began, in a video uploaded to her Instagram profile.
"Today, I'm here to acknowledge my mistake. I apologize and announce a significant gesture: I will donate one million euros to the Regina Margherita Hospital, in order to support the care of sick children. But that's not all. I want to address this issue publicly, because I realized that I made a communication mistake.A mistake I want to learn from and, from this moment on, I commit myself to separate my charitable activities from my commercial activities. Because, even if the ultimate goal is a noble one, misunderstandings can arise," she explained.
"On the other hand, I want to confirm that I will be challenging the AGCM's decision, because I consider it disproportionate and unjust. I sincerely believe that my mistake was only to link a commercial activity with a solidarity activity, at a communicational level. So, if the AGCM decides to reconsider its determination, and if the sanction is ultimately reduced, I pledge to contribute the difference to the one million euros I plan to donate," she stated, before announcing her intention to reach out to the hospital to avoid any further erroneous speculation.
"I know my mistake won't be erased. But I want to ensure that something constructive and positive comes out of this misunderstanding," she commented in a video that has already garnered over half a million likes and nearly 40,000 comments. Among them, criticisms, harsh insults like "greedy," "ridiculous," and "liar," and other more sympathetic reflections like "we all make mistakes, we're not machines," "you're an example even when you err," "admitting a misstep is a sign of integrity," "acting this way is a mark of intelligence," and "people with your values will go far." However, Ferragni has chosen not to respond to any of her followers, aiming to calm the scandal.