A COMPANY which sells “souvenir plots” of Scottish land is to face “enforcement action” from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Established Titles, a company registered in Hong Kong, sells “title packs” online, which it claims allows purchasers to refer to themselves as either Lord or Lady owing to a “historic Scottish land ownership custom".
The company owns small portions of land in Aberdeenshire, Dunfermline, Dumfries and Galloway, and the Borders but has come under fire after a row erupted over their advertising practices on YouTube.
The company reportedly spent thousands paying successful YouTubers to advertise their title packs on their channels.
But a video by the YouTuber LegalEagle, which alleged Established Titles was a “scam”, has now racked up more than 3 million views on the platform.
He states that the company’s claims regarding lordships and legal ownership of the souvenir plots were untruthful and that this wasn’t accurately reflected on their website.
In response to the criticism Established Titles said that the gift was meant for “a good laugh” and that they had been “transparent” about the legal ownership of the land from the start.
Since then numerous YouTubers who boast millions of followers have apologised for their association with the company.
Now, in response to query about whether Established Titles was under investigation, The National can confirm the company was reported to the ASA.
A spokesperson for the ASA said: “We received a complaint about an in-video sponsored advertisement for Established Titles on YouTube which has been referred to our compliance team for enforcement action. They will take this up with the advertiser.”
They did not reveal what action they will be subject to if rules are broken.
Issues surrounding souvenir plots are not new in Scotland.
As far back as 2012 Scotland’s heraldry regulator confirmed that buying souvenir plots did not allow recipients to call themselves lord or lady.
The Court of the Lord Lyon said: "Ownership of a souvenir plot of land does not bring with it the right to any description such as ‘laird’, ‘lord’ or ‘lady’.
“‘Laird’ is not a title but a description applied by those living on and around the estate, many of whom will derive their living from it, to the principal landowner of a long-named area of land. It will, therefore, be seen that it is not a description which is appropriate for the owner of a normal residential property."
They added: “It cannot properly be used to describe a person who owns a small part of a larger piece of land. The term ‘laird’ is not one recognisable by attachment to a personal name and thus there is no official recognition of ‘XY, Laird of Z’."
Established Titles has been approached for comment.
