Michael Owen has deleted a tweet that promoted a non-fungible token (NFT) after being contacted by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The former England striker tweeted last month that “my NFTs will be the first ever that can’t lose their initial value”.
The ASA understood that members of the public may have found the unconventional advertisement ‘misleading’ and therefore asked the ex-footballer to delete it.
The news comes just days after Michael Owen’s daughter Gemma entered the Love Island villa.
The request from the advertising watchdog to remove the tweet also comes as part of an industry-wide review of problems surrounding the advertisement of NFTs.
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Forbes defines an NFT as a “digital asset that represents a real-world object” that are bought and sold online often with cryptocurrency.
Many brands are opting to create NFTs to boost online engagement. Earlier this year Almond Breeze released a limited collection of banana almond-milk themed NFTs, capitalising on the “ape NFT” metaverse trend.
Speaking on the Owen NFT promotion, Fairer Finance managing director James Daley told the BBC Sports Desk podcast: “When you’re delving into something that’s very new and unregulated, and you’ve got footballers saying ‘you can’t lose’, it’s flashing alarm bells.”
“It’s just not true – of course you can lose money. [Owen’s tweet] is incredibly dangerous, especially from a trusted and well-known celebrity.”
Oceidon blockchain technology company partnered with the Owen to release his NFT collection. Though the collection was scheduled for release on 31 May, founder of Oceidon Andy Green decided to push back the launch date to coincice with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November.
Although Owen’s creation has already received some bad press, Green added: “This is a different way to present this technology.”
“We’re trying to encapsulate his career, his legacy, on the blockchain.”
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