Media Watch Claims Shannon Noll Sent Paid-For Tweets

Media Watch last night revealed that the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) is using local celebrities to endorse their campaign for Kangaroo Island via their Twitter feeds for $750 (plus GST) per mention.

The show's host Jonathan Holmes claimed they were alerted to the situation via an email forwarded to them.

The email was sent out to celebrities' agents, on behalf of the SATC, looking for celebrity endorsements: “They don't want the tweet to appear endorsed, rather an organic mention, injecting your own personality into the tweet.”

Media Watch pointed out that “serious celebs” in the US can command “thousands of dollars” for tweet endorsements.

When approached by Media Watch, a spokesperson for SATC admitted they were “using 'influencers' in the promotion of great South Australian products.”

Amongst the three uncredited examples they supplied to Media Watch was this tweet: “All this moving and dancing training! Think I need a break! I heard Kangaroo Island is awesome! Thoughts anyone?”

Media Watch researchers reportedly discovered that tweet was sent from Shannon Noll (@Nollsie) – the former Australian Idol contestant has nearly 7,000 followers on Twitter.

Media Watch compared the twitter endorsements to Australia's infamous Cash For Comments scandal that rocked talk radio many years ago.

But SATC defended their position by claiming that the celebrities they recruit are “commercial brands” already.