ASCI Disclosure Labels 2026: Correct Wording for Reels, Stories and Live

Disclosure is required whenever there is a material connection between creator and brand: payment, free products, discounts, trips, affiliate commissions, or an employment/ambassador relationship. Barter and gifting count — 'but we didn't pay cash' is not an exemption, and ASCI has said so repeatedly.

If any benefit changed hands, label it. The only genuinely exempt content is a creator independently praising a product they bought — and if you sent it to them, that is not what happened.

ASCI's accepted labels: #ad, #sponsored, #collab, #paidpartnership, #gifted — or the platform's own paid-partnership tool (which is the strongest option because it renders the label natively). The label must be upfront: the first two lines of a caption, not buried after 14 hashtags at the bottom.

Language note: disclosure should be understandable to the audience. English labels are standard, but for regional-language content, an equivalent disclosure in that language is the safest practice — a Gujarati audience should see a label they can read.

Reels and video posts: disclosure in the caption AND as an on-screen overlay or verbal mention — for videos under 15 seconds the label should persist throughout; for longer videos, at the start and through the product segment. Stories: a legible label on every frame featuring the product, superimposed on the content itself, not hidden behind a sticker zone users tap past.

YouTube: verbal disclosure in the video plus '#ad' in the title or description top. Live streams: repeated verbal disclosure, since viewers join mid-stream. Platform paid-partnership tags should accompany all of the above wherever available.

Three steps that eliminate 95% of violations: put the exact label text in the campaign brief (not 'disclose appropriately' — the literal string); make disclosure a contractual obligation with non-compliance treated as breach; and add a disclosure check to your go-live review before any payment milestone releases.

Also disclose on your own side: when the brand reposts creator content, the paid-partnership context travels with it. A reposted Reel stripped of its label is a fresh violation authored by the brand.