Influencer Industry

[Pinchme]

I hope it's the year we say goodbye to mummy vloggers and family influencers. Cannot stand people pimping out their children for a paycheck.

Oh I so hope you are right, it's nothing more than child abuse and needs to be stopped.

 

[Rosiepie]

One influencer got lots of the Extra Special range Christmas food,booze and Christmas crackers- for herself and husband.
The other got stuff to make a steak dinner to advertise how asda have reduced their packaging.

Asda are supporting the hunger charity yet giving away food to those who can afford it. Paying fees to women to advertise the charity even though they don’t shop there!
Would really love to see Asda donating food to real families who are truly struggling - that would be a much nicer thing to do especially at Christmas time. Much more charitable.

 

[HereWeGoAgain101]

Totally agree.

It reminds me the other day someone commented on one of Venetia Falconers posts asking does she have any sustainable underwear brands she recommends. Venetia replied recommending one, I forgot the name, to which the original girl replied saying thanks but too expensive. Someone else then replied saying why not try stripe and stare (and tagged them). The brand then replied saying oh venetia we are gonna email you and send you some!! ... so another poster then replied like why not send them to the original poster who is ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR SOME. Which I loved to see someone calling them out.

I mean I get it's advertising but it's so frustrating to see. Venetia didn't even originally recommend that brand, and then a few days later she had a insta story of loads of free underwear she got sent. I ended up unfollowing her. Considering she constantly talks about cutting down on buying too much, she easily could have said oh i dont need some, I agree send them to the original poster looking for new underwear.


Sorry for the ramble but this really annoyed me. She was the only influencer I was still following as I thought she was different but clearly not..

Noooo, they’re all the same. They actually think they’re celebrities and are entitled to the freebies, which invariable they sell on their Depop shop later. Also, once they’ve wringed one avenue of revenue dry, for example Zanna Van Dijk started off as a PT blogger, they then move onto the next. She now touts herself as a conscious travel blogger. It’s ludicrous, there’s no such thing as a conscious travel blogger when you take 20 long haul flights per year. Their fight to remain relevant is just cringeworthy! I would hate to be in a business where I had to publicise every moment of my life. And they constantly post pictures of themselves crying and telling followers they are having a heavy period and how much they are hated and trolled. Get over yourselves

 

[Ensay]

And I've learnt I've been spelling Claire wrong all these years!

Nah there are three versions of spelling it: Claire, Clare and Clair.

There might be more!

 

[nycinthesun]

GOOD! I'm so sick of influencers getting paid to push "clean" and "green" products like they're not just fear-mongering terms to sell more garbage products to their naïve audiences. I don't have a problem with the actual existence of influencers but they are simply overpaid for what they do. There is nobody who works in Marketing on a corporate level that would ever make as much money as their peers in influencing (I'm just talking about managerial level and lower, anyway).

 

[TheScarletgirl]

nobody and I mean nobody should be able to influence someone’s health that isn’t a professional in the health system. Also even if they are professionals the shite they lie about. It’s bias completely to what they believe.. dr doireann is now doing it and she was supposed to be against supplements.

I have seen fashion influences try and promote health which they are really uneducated on .

 

[Sticky One]

Are there any brands that you are particularly sick of seeing being constantly gifted or promoted?
I’m Fed up with seeing those expensive Balsamhill Christmas trees being gifted to wealthy individuals. They gifted a lady who already owns at least 7 Xmas trees Oh and The White Company keep on advertising their products too by gifting or paying fees. The worst was a £1k outdoor fire pit gifted to a very wealthy family. The greed of these people who take take take and advertise to make money, but insist they are only doing it to share with their loyal followers. Yeah right!

Snuz, they literally gift every fucking pregnant person or their family something from their range, stop giving your stuff away and lower your prices.

 

[working9-5]

If I hadn’t temporarily come off Instagram they would be blocking me left, right and centre!

 

[The Gardener]

Caroline Hirrons and Sali Hughes are crying in a corner somewhere.

I had to Google these names as no idea who they are. I dont follow/look at/have interest in any 'influencers'. I don't have money to follow trends or fashions and even if it was plentiful why would I want to buy something because someone else told me I must like it? I have a sound mind of my own so far so the idea of spending huge amounts of money on shoes/handbags/cosmetics / whatever simply because it's THE thing to have..well...where is the sense in that?

 

[instasham13]

Please keep this thread active. I love it x

 

[ChilliBean]

I don't think these influencers are very positive role models for the coming generation either. Too many young people aspire to be influences/social media stars/youtubers/faux instagram celebrities rather than an actual career. This country will be running out of doctors, nurses, radiographers, engineers, teachers etc but thank god we will still have Mrs Hinch and her trusty bottle of zoflora!

 

[mysecretself]

Didn’t know Asda gave away food! Is this Xmas food that they are advertising?
Asda are running a charity campaign to help combat hunger. Ironically they pay fees to instagrammers to tell followers about the charity. Wonder how many mouths they could feed on fees paid out alone?
Im also sick and tired of people who are clearly advertising a product but don’t declare it, or try hiding the fact they have been paid a fee. So many gullible people out there worshipping instagrammers who are fake and their lives are as fake as anything!

I posted on another thread yesterday but I think insta are trying to clamp down on this. Yesterday I was sueeveyed on 5 people’s stories to see if they were showing ads. Almost all were hiding ads and were either product placing items or talking about items or just planning hiding ad/gifted. Let’s hope that this is the start of a big clamp down.

Are there any brands that you are particularly sick of seeing being constantly gifted or promoted?
I’m Fed up with seeing those expensive Balsamhill Christmas trees being gifted to wealthy individuals. They gifted a lady who already owns at least 7 Xmas trees Oh and The White Company keep on advertising their products too by gifting or paying fees. The worst was a £1k outdoor fire pit gifted to a very wealthy family. The greed of these people who take take take and advertise to make money, but insist they are only doing it to share with their loyal followers. Yeah right!

Loads!!
M&s
Matalan
Iconic
Asda
Wallis
M&co
Nars
Charlotte Tibury
Chambers & beau jewelly
I could go on ...
These are the ones that I actively know often gift holidays, Uk breaks, jewellery make up and clothing and use influencers to advertise or promote them. These are also brands I now no longer actively use unless necessary.

 

[coconochanel]

I hope so. They are all the same now anyway all wear same brand that's paying them, all go to same events, all upload same content.

 

[thenomad]

Celebrities can be sell outs too. But yes when you see influencers who go to countries like China, Dubai, or Saudi Arabia, it should give any consumer, people like you and me some pause. These are countries with terrible human rights violations that are still ongoing.

It is really sad when people prioritize money over their own morals. One influencer here on Tattle in particular that I’m looking at (but there are many just as guilty as him) only because he and his gf had a recent domestic violence joke scandal is Alfie Deyes. He received his gifted veneers in Dubai and did a shoot in China with Mini. He must have conveniently forgotten that China is also under fire with their own human rights issues atm— protests in HK and the detainment of the Uighur people—when he was too busy waiting for the cheque to clear from Mini.

 

[Rosiepie]

I loved joules!! It was literally all I wore, then they gifted some to influencers and I’ve literally sold all my clothes. They cost a fortune and to just give them away annoyed me a lot when as a loyal customer it’s rare they offer any real discounts. We was looking into buying an Audi next year as we have dogs and kids and the boot size on some of their cars is lovely but since they’ve given them away I’ve said no to it, again just because it’s such an expensive car and they’re just handing them out.

M&S literally peed me of when they went through a faze of having insta kids as their models. it just really bugged me.

I’m not a petty person I don’t think but these shops are all quite expensive and to be giving away as much as they do just pees me off. They could just lower their prices across the board instead of selling out to influencers and they would probably do better for it.

Yes Joules do advertise a lot. M&S and Matalan too.
Amazon are selling those kid tablets for Xmas and have again gifted them to wealthy individuals whose kids have it all. I’d much rather see these go to kids who don’t have much.
Furbodog cameras! Omg I have seen so many of these the past few weeks. I have a dog and it looks a great gadget but I’m not buying as I’ve seen who they have gifted these to!
Daniel wellington watches and charlestedinteriors.
Some instagrammers realise that all they have to do is say on stories or a post that they don’t have a mirror to fill a blank wall in their home and hey presto one arrives on their doorstep! I’ve noticed quite a few whining on about needing something and then they get it Can’t stand it!

 

[contrarymary]

<<moved to appropriate thread>>

Hi guys, so I've been a lurker on Tattle for a while and a much more recent poster across a couple of threads and I just wanted to get your opinions on something, which is why you might find my comment on a couple of threads - call it social analysis or whatever...

I'm mid-20's, so firsthand saw the rise of the modern 'influencer'. I sometimes kick myself because I wanted to make Youtube videos but was always frightened of people I know laughing at me so never did - to think that I could have been a Zoella and now be rolling in that sort of dosh is terribly frustrating.

It's really fascinating to see the way things have changed so quickly how people are actually making money from Youtube and Instagram. Obviously this has heightened, particularly on Instagram, since Facebook bought it.

The way things are now, it's very hard to break through that social media ceiling, because we all know that every fashion/home/beauty account, vlogger, blogger etc. etc. is just looking for clout and who can blame them? I'd love nothing more than to be in a similar position to the big accounts you see (and also why it's extra frustrating that if I started in 2009 I could be).

However, I think with the intense saturation of all these 'influencers' and the (to be honest) 'unfairness' of them being paid to advertise expensive items (why are THEY being paid ££££ to promote the ££££ item they've been given for free when muggins here on £8.50 p/h has to save to buy it) enables websites such as this to be made and for people to comment because everyone can see through the bullshit and are quite frankly annoyed and frustrated and the unfairness of it all.

I think it's safe to say that for big Organisations, this type of marketing works - and it does work - I'm always clicking aff links in the 'description bar below'.

So my question is, with more and more people seeing the light mixed in with recent scandals (MOD), how much longer do you think the career of a social media influencer will last? Or do you think it will continue and merge into something different?

If 'influencers' are to remain, what type of content is it that you think should be discussed as we go into the new decade? 'Bootea' and hair vitamins seems to have died down, so should free holidays also?

I wish I was a journo or Carrie Bradshaw so I could write a piece.

*Also do you love how ironic it is that I've mentioned how unfair this all is but in the same breath admitted I'd jump at the chance to be in that position?? Hahaha I'm a fat hypocrite x

 

[1001 others]

I think in the majority of cases - where the influencers are plugging things they very clearly don't use - it's a good thing.

But, what about in the cases of, say, where someone is a paid ambassador for a brand such as Dermalogica (which, personally speaking, really does work)? I don't see any problem with that if, when they sign on, they're honest about the state of their skin, and then they show the signs of improvement as they use the products.

Ditto in the case of Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig - there have been some true success stories there (Magda Szubanski for one) - I don't see the problem in getting an influencer or celebrity to show that the product can and does work.

There is a local lady to me (too few followers to mention by name) who has an autoimmune condition that means she can only eat certain types of foods, and she has created quite a nice following of talking about the brands she uses, and gives cooking demonstrations. Of course that's attracted the attention of other brands who're keen to pal up with her, and she's been very open and transparent about that, saying she's using xyz product today, and here's how she's using it (how she's cooking it, what she's matching it with, etc.) ... and here's how she feels after eating it, etc. I don't see anything wrong in that situation either - she's helping a lot of people by doing all the research for them.

Good. I remember Lisa Snowdon constantly trying to flog collagen supplements/powder which were really expensive but had such poor reviews. She does it with skin care too, her favourite range is whatever she's being given free usually.

Those collagen powders are bloody awful and an absolute have. Your body produces collagen naturally and does not *typically* need a helping hand in that regard. It is possible to overdose on collagen, and cause irreparable damage to your kidneys.

 

[pppppppppp]

Scammers the lot of them it’s definitely a shameless game criminal at points, what gets me is the promotion of these fraud businesses they team up with, anyone remember the furniture business Manchester based who stole massive amounts of money from people twice well that business has set up shop again new name, same set of criminals

 

[viewtube]

I hope it will be the end of influencers, but I doubt it will. Too many greedy, lazy people calling themselves influencers, they have no skills or knowledge to share(some not all), particularly mummy vloggers, quite a few would benefit from parenting and cooking courses. Using their families to make money, they cry troll or bully when people call them out on unsafe, inappropriate or dishonest practices. Sadly decent mummy vloggers are very much in the minority. The greedy behaviour is only encouraged by brands/businesses who don't research the vloggers they work with. Rules and guidelines should be introduced regarding advertising and /gifted items and services within the vlogging community.
Also ANY vlogger who is driving whilst vlogging and taking their hands off the steering wheel while the vehicle is moving, should be in trouble, lots of mummy vloggers do this especially when they have children in the car. A blind eye is turned too often to dangerous and even illegal practices

 

[Buzzedoff]

I primarily use Instagram to follow my friends, a few brands and photography accounts. I follow a few ‘influencers’ purely because they are (unintentionally) hilarious and will keep up with others who are local but recently I thought maybe I was missing out on something so started following some of the over 40 fashion type accounts. I was quite enjoying them until last week one did an ad for a mattress. A fucking mattress. I instantly unfollowed and I can’t have been the only one. We’re at saturation point - people are cracking onto the fact that anything will be shilled if the price is right and I can’t see how this is sustainable. Plus, thankfully, the more ‘reuse, reduce, recycle’ ecological Instagram movement is gathering pace and companies will be left behind if they don’t change their business model and strategy to reflect this. People are buying less crap, becoming more aware of the impact they are having on the planet, asking more of the brands they use and having more empathy to those who have less. I feel that the end of an endless stream of influencer advertising is nigh...