Uhana faces challenges with new shirt collection after Instagram blocks ads in Finland

The Finnish clothing brand Uhana recently faced an unexpected situation when its latest shirt collection failed to generate any customer interest. The online store saw no orders, and social media posts featuring the new designs received minimal engagement. According to Marketing Director Maiju Asikainen, this was unusual, as new products typically drive significant online traffic.

The situation became clearer when Uhana’s paid advertising on Instagram was blocked, prompting the brand to realize that the platform deemed the text on their shirts problematic, which led to reduced visibility for all related content. Asikainen noted that the shirts featured messages promoting themes like “diversity” and “human rights.”

Since the spring, Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has been limiting the visibility of political content on its platforms, a move that has left many brands in a similar predicament. Social media expert Johanna Janhonen suggested that Uhana’s challenges were likely due to these restrictions, which may have flagged the shirts’ messages as political.

In response to the limitations, Uhana blurred the text in its promotional images and marked some as censored. The brand eventually got its ads approved by reaching out to Meta. Asikainen expressed that this experience was a creative way to engage with customers while navigating the platform’s restrictions.

Despite adapting to Meta’s requirements, Uhana’s creative director emphasized that the brand’s core values around human rights and diversity remain integral to its identity and operations, reaffirming a commitment to these principles moving forward.