Totally agree @happyforest its FRAUD! plain and simple, therefore should be made illegal.
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Totally agree @happyforest its FRAUD! plain and simple, therefore should be made illegal.I agree. It's fraud and should be treated as criminal conduct particularly since these "Influenzas" use their stats of likes/comments/views to garner larger contracts in amounts that dwarf what most people make. Just look at what these asshats are bringing in yearly, it is appalling!
What's the difference between this behavior of buying faux engagement for profit and criminal white collar fraud??? Talk about a massive gaping loophole in the current laws. It is misrepresentation in every sense. It shows a complete lack of integrity and quite honestly IMO it is blatant theft. IMO, any monies they make misrepresenting organic engagement should be seen the same as robbery/theft and should be prosecuted the same as tax evasion, insider trading, Ponzi schemes, etc.
I think so, both were born at some point in November from what I understoodCan I ask a question…is she getting the age of her dogs right?!
Brilliant post. You have hit on so many points, so thought-provoking, receipts / analytics attached. Her desperation is palpable. Can we mass report her Tik Tok account for fraud ?When you look further into theTikTok party that Lydia is inviting people to, it sadly may not be entirely real. Or reel.
But it is part of a larger story.
View attachment 1672237
Thursday night, when Lydia posted her most recent TikTok (surprise...it was another Amazon dress!), it was fascinating to see all the comments start flooding in, within the first 2 hours alone. Not only was it heavy with the usual“I want to be like you one day, Lydia!” but it was nearly equally matched by many Amazon-specific comments, like, “Are you saying that’s an Amazon dress!?!”
It smelled fishy.
View attachment 1673341
Especially when you look at this dress.What is it? Long-sleeved charcoal-colored “cashmere.” Same story, different day: an unknown brand (YTR6RTW) on Amazon that has no reviews and it is unclear of what it is really made.
When looking at the dress and listing itself, it would be hard to find a more basic dress than this. There is nothing standout about it; it has no exciting form, cut or shape to it. No embellishments. Not even a great styling of the dress on a model. Just plopped on a white background. 100% unremarkable—something few would click on.
🩺 🩺 🩺 This dress barely registers a pulse.
View attachment 1672241
So how does this unbranded, basic dress, some 72 hours later now have nearly 600K views, with people 'clamoring over it?' Especially when Lydia used few & basic hashtags on the posting, while forgetting its most potent one:#Amazon.
It doesn’t make sense.
So if not the dress, is it the wearer of this dress?
When you dig deeper and look into these younger viewers and what matters to them, who is it that they look up to these days? According to a fresh-off-the-presses Piper Sandler report, it would be Taylor Swift, Zendaya and Hailey Bieber. They also love brands like Nike and H&M most.
View attachment 1672243
When you look at it visually (as shown below), it becomes more apparent. The #EnglishCountryGrandmother meets #LydiainParis looks, with scarves tucked into belts, often with a headband, do not seem to jive/make Lydia along-lost style twin.
View attachment 1672245
There are sadly more signs of oddity than these.
EVIDENCE: In Lydia’s TikTok metrics from this past week.
Look at Lydia’s second most recent TikTok (the one in a red box) which was posted on Tuesday. This was the Louis Vuitton unboxing that has been discussed a lot. This TikTok has now yielded a whopping 3.2M+ views and 461K likes in 5 days. And her third most recent one (in the orange box)—yet another basic Amazon cashmere dress—has nearly 1M views in 6 days.
View attachment 1673269
From Thursday, October 13 – Thursday, October 20, Lydia posted 6 TikToks:
View attachment 1673265
When you look solely at engagement—not views—you can see that Lydia averages 30K likes & 250 comments per day on TikTok:
View attachment 1672250
But somehow this past Monday (one of the slowest days on TikTok) she suddenly gets 120,000 more likes than usual. Mostly for a basic, unknown Amazon dress.
And then on Tuesday, the day she posts her LV TikTok, things really get skyrocketing —she gets 3 TIMES even Monday’s 120,000 jump—for 360,000 more likes than usual.
So a 1,300% increase in likes in one day.
Even greater, she gets 5,000+ MORE comments than her usual daily 250 comments. Creating a 2,700% increase.
Yes, you read that correctly:a 2,700% increase in comments. On a Tuesday. And this was also able to happen when she: (1) didn't speak the name of the LV bag in the Tiktok; (2) didn't place the name in the title or description box; (3) nor in a #hashtag; and (4) admits in the TikTok that she doesn't even care what the bag’s name is. What?
And then somehow, magically, after all this escalating, growing 48-hour excitement, on Thursday night, things come crashing right back down to Lydia's normal TikTok levels: 28K likes and 215 comments.
There is nothing organic or natural about 1,300% and 2,700% spikes...that go down as quickly as they go up.
Now go back and look at the first 3 TikToks that were posted earlier in the week—before the spike—and you can see they perform substantially worse, (even when those Amazon dresses can be found there too)! All 3 colored-boxed TikTok posts that fell under the spike period are ** doubling, tripling and more ** the performance of the week's earlier TikToks—when they have had less listing time. Why?
Therefore, these appear to likely be purchased views, likes & customized comments.
It is not hard, nor would it be expensive to do this, as there are countless social media “fake like” vendors everywhere, even on Etsy. Here is one where you could buy Wednesday's 5,000 comments for just $78 (but it's always even better when you buy in bulk!):
View attachment 1672255
Some sites allow you to buy the exact-worded comments you want to appear in advance so that the purchasercan set the perfect stage ...to then play off those pre-made, customized comments for the scripted engagement dance they wish to play out.
View attachment 1672256
So If Team Lydia had wanted to promote Amazon, for instance, it would be easy to buy many pre-baked Amazon comments/questions of their own making in advance that could then start trickling in on the exact TikToks they wanted, at the exact moment they wanted.
And what would be a cheaper, easier or better way to get people thinking that Lydia is adored by 14-24-year olds —one of the most coveted audiences by brands—than by purchasing a bunch of “I want to be you when I grow up!” comments—which just by the very nature of those words, allows people to subconsciously believe these are young and impressionable viewers... who have their pocketbooks open, ready to buy whatever Lydia is suggesting, so they can be just like her!
Another oddity? Lydia has made no secret of her inspiration/love ofThe Princess of Wales. Ironically, there are hundreds of comments like 'Wow, you look like Kate Middleton! " throughout, of which Lydia responds to more often than most.
View attachment 1672259
Also, recall how often Lydia has been pushing "go to my TikTok!" over the past few months, both on Instagram and YouTube, calling out all the milestone numbers and even creating "controversy" over it. She wants this to be noticed very much.
This would help explain some of these basic Amazon dresses' odd soaring numbers, but it could also explain some of the happily-touted TikTok success of late too.... when conversely, views & engagement on the other platforms have all been declining (more on that below).
WOULD IT BE **POSSIBLE**?:
Team Lydia filmed and broadcast their luxury bag shopping trip in London late last week to: (1) create content forMonday’s vlog (2) have a fun girls' day/night out ; (3) to brighten up Lydia’s bad week with a nice, feel-good purchase ; and (4) likely send a quiet message to the world that Lydia wasn’t sad/unaffected by things; but, (5) could it also have been to procure a bright, new shiny object for a big unboxing? This shiny object shouldn't be another out-of-touch Hermes bag—but something more universal and approachable, and what better than the #3 most sought-after brand by young women: Louis Vuitton (see that Piper Sandler report again above).
Thisshiny new Louis Vuitton object would not only naturally play off Lydia’s known love of LV trunks and her growing collection (which she makes sure to mention, don’t forget), but it is a luxury purchase unboxing which often naturally performs well on Tiktok.
So then, would a new Louis Vuitton bag unboxing not create a quite perfect and very believable "Trojan Horse TikTok," of which one could stuff a big TikTok views/likes/comments buy underneath— which would hopefully go undetected?
What is also peculiar is that yesterday—just 4 days later—Lydia posted this same LV reel on her YouTube Shorts. It has performed nowhere like it has on TikTok...achieving only 136 comments, 2.6K likes and 30K total views so far. While it is a few days behind, it has 0.937% the views—not even a full 1%—of what has been found with the TikTok success. And the likes are very out of whack too: they are 459,000 less than TikTok. Plus this YouTube reel was optimally uploaded on the weekend—unlike the weekday TikTok posting.
The deltas in these performance metrics should not be this extreme.
View attachment 1673334
Why might one ***potentially*** do this?
View attachment 1672408
The 3M-viewed Louis Vuitton TikTok was posted on Tuesday, October 18. Besides being a way to strategically support the YouTube vlog about this bag from the night before, there was also a lot happening in the background.
It had been nothing but a bad string of days for Team Lydia; not much had been going right.
Looking at it visually, across a calendar, it included: (1) a Holland Cooper "family announcement" backfiring and the embarrassment that inevitably accompanies that; (2) Victoria’s trip which she was noticeably excluded from; (3) Tattlers’ finding Globy in discount shops, which only served to revive the controversy; (4) Thursday’s UGG rant + Amazon questioning; (5) chickens that weren’t hers; (6) the Purdey mess...and more.
View attachment 1672267
It was all a doozy....something one might like to cover up—and quickly so.
And that may well be what happened.
For what might be a better way than to redirect attention over to TikTok, the new home you have been cultivating? It is also the one place where Holland Coper hadn't been announced; it is also the one place where people probably don't even know what Globy is; and it is also where OG YouTube & Instagram followers (who know a lot of these stories) won’t likely go or comment. But most of all, it is where all thehot social media action is. (Plus those TikTok buys are pretty cheap!)
Look at the calendar again when the TikTok spike dates are laid atop, shown in 🟣 purple 🟣 and the timing fits nearly perfectly—able to help deflect/distract, including the growing Purdey mess that was now starting to unfold.
View attachment 1672540
View attachment 1672409
The Lydia Millen brand has fallen since pre-pandemic times. Hello! used to write stories(albeit paid by the brand, but still...it was media coverage) about her. Strong brands like Farfetch, Laura Mercier, L'Oreal, By Terry and Estee Lauder/Aerin (and don't forget Lydia got to hold court with Aerin & interview her) all used to proudly feature her—unlike today, where they mainly give her a coupon code to let her unbox and sell their items with affiliate links from her sage green attic dressing room. Lydia isn't attending the events/PR trips/parties that she used to and it is rare that her face is proudly shown aside a brand, other than Karen Millen.
View attachment 1672283
Her engagement slippage isstarting to show on Instagram and YouTube, especially when clickbait titles are not used:
View attachment 1672272
And when you look at Lydia's life and partnerships of late (as shown below): (1) she is now found in London hotel powder rooms bemoaning lost perfume (which she then rather sillily days later, flaunts an obscene perfume arsenal, touting that it requires an assistant’s help to organize it all); (2) her Karen Millen collection is not faring well; even the most highly-featured "By Lydia" pieces are still fully available...a month later; (3) her idol, The Princess of Wales, wore an Elizabeth Hurley x Karen Millen Forever Dress—not something from Lydia's collection; and (4) partnerships with companies like Cosmetips haven’t sold out either, 1 month+ later. Her brand power is fading.
View attachment 1672277
When you contrast this to her frenemy, Victoria, it's a big difference. Victoria, on the other hand (as shown below): (1) is enjoying another “best-selling” jewelry launch; (2) ...which she and Lydia's old friends, including Josie, were whisked off to France for; (3) she has her upcoming, highly-promoted Holland Cooper line coming out; and (4) she literally has Jade’s embrace, something Lydia very publicly failed to secure.
View attachment 1672282
View attachment 1672411
This Lydia & Lauren/The LA Way's fast-growing friendship is confusing, but it seems a business relationship could also beblossoming, as was referenced in The LA Way's stories at Farmhouse the other night. Is it because Lydia’s Karen Millen deal is soon coming to an end...and Lydia is going to come under the fold there? Or is this just another client engagement, as not a lot of other influencers are wearing Aavelle—but "Queen Lydia" (as The LA Way adoringly calls her), will?
Whatever the case, Tuesday's Louis Vuitton TikTok was just as much an ad for Aavelle clothing& Aavelle hair bows than anything else—Aavelle likely could have not achieved 3.2M views, 461K likes & 6K+ comments on its own either.
And once again, when you look back at the calendar, this TikTok spike equally benefitted The LA Way/Aavelle too, whose launch was originally slated for this very day, before Aavelle suddenly moved its launch up to the night before, perhaps to also be fully ready to capitalize upon TikTok.
View attachment 1672288
View attachment 1672412
Finally, theholidays are now quickly upon us —a well-known make-or-break period for companies around the world. Influencers too. And Team Lydia needs to sell Lydia to prospective brands. So while Lydia's “Look at my TikTok Party” story the other day was shown to hopefully get viewers to become cross-platform users, the primarily purpose was likely to serve as a siren call for brands and PR managers to take note of her TikTok ascent (notice that she made sure to include her latest milestone numbers in the post), so Team Lydia can finalize/line up holiday partnerships & deals, especially on this critcal, growing platform.
View attachment 1672934
But it’s not just revenue that Team Lydia likely wishes to bring its way—they also need to fill up an entire month’s worth of content for Vlogmas videos—which includes a big risk of exposure if there are any shown drying-up work opportunities.
View attachment 1672291
Another example of a likely Lydia "soft holiday marketing sell" this past week would be the SpaceNK party stories she shared the other night. Filled with messages of "it is never too early for the holidays!", with classic holiday music playing underneath, it was a quiet reminder that Lydia is out on the town, ready for business and ready to be *YOUR BRAND'S* next Holiday influencer too!
(* Also, why would Lydia wear Vampire's Wife—instead of her many cashmere Amazon dresses, or something from her Karen Millen line to this soiree?)
View attachment 1672295.
All in all, things feel very "off"—not coming from a position of honesty, confidence and strength.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that things are not going well.
I can only say I hope this is your day job and that you get paid very well and recognised greatly every day for it! This is honestly way more thorough than pieces of research done by interns who are eager to impress, and way more cleverly presented than mid level execs of some MNCsWhen you look further into theTikTok party that Lydia is inviting people to, it sadly may not be entirely real. Or reel.
But it is part of a larger story.
View attachment 1672237
Thursday night, when Lydia posted her most recent TikTok (surprise...it was another Amazon dress!), it was fascinating to see all the comments start flooding in, within the first 2 hours alone. Not only was it heavy with the usual“I want to be like you one day, Lydia!” but it was nearly equally matched by many Amazon-specific comments, like, “Are you saying that’s an Amazon dress!?!”
It smelled fishy.
View attachment 1673341
Especially when you look at this dress.What is it? Long-sleeved charcoal-colored “cashmere.” Same story, different day: an unknown brand (YTR6RTW) on Amazon that has no reviews and it is unclear of what it is really made.
When looking at the dress and listing itself, it would be hard to find a more basic dress than this. There is nothing standout about it; it has no exciting form, cut or shape to it. No embellishments. Not even a great styling of the dress on a model. Just plopped on a white background. 100% unremarkable—something few would click on.
🩺 🩺 🩺 This dress barely registers a pulse.
View attachment 1672241
So how does this unbranded, basic dress, some 72 hours later now have nearly 600K views, with people 'clamoring over it?' Especially when Lydia used few & basic hashtags on the posting, while forgetting its most potent one:#Amazon.
It doesn’t make sense.
So if not the dress, is it the wearer of this dress?
When you dig deeper and look into these younger viewers and what matters to them, who is it that they look up to these days? According to a fresh-off-the-presses Piper Sandler report, it would be Taylor Swift, Zendaya and Hailey Bieber. They also love brands like Nike and H&M most.
View attachment 1672243
When you look at it visually (as shown below), it becomes more apparent. The #EnglishCountryGrandmother meets #LydiainParis looks, with scarves tucked into belts, often with a headband, do not seem to jive/make Lydia along-lost style twin.
View attachment 1672245
There are sadly more signs of oddity than these.
EVIDENCE: In Lydia’s TikTok metrics from this past week.
Look at Lydia’s second most recent TikTok (the one in a red box) which was posted on Tuesday. This was the Louis Vuitton unboxing that has been discussed a lot. This TikTok has now yielded a whopping 3.2M+ views and 461K likes in 5 days. And her third most recent one (in the orange box)—yet another basic Amazon cashmere dress—has nearly 1M views in 6 days.
View attachment 1673269
From Thursday, October 13 – Thursday, October 20, Lydia posted 6 TikToks:
View attachment 1673265
When you look solely at engagement—not views—you can see that Lydia averages 30K likes & 250 comments per day on TikTok:
View attachment 1672250
But somehow this past Monday (one of the slowest days on TikTok) she suddenly gets 120,000 more likes than usual. Mostly for a basic, unknown Amazon dress.
And then on Tuesday, the day she posts her LV TikTok, things really get skyrocketing —she gets 3 TIMES even Monday’s 120,000 jump—for 360,000 more likes than usual.
So a 1,300% increase in likes in one day.
Even greater, she gets 5,000+ MORE comments than her usual daily 250 comments. Creating a 2,700% increase.
Yes, you read that correctly:a 2,700% increase in comments. On a Tuesday. And this was also able to happen when she: (1) didn't speak the name of the LV bag in the Tiktok; (2) didn't place the name in the title or description box; (3) nor in a #hashtag; and (4) admits in the TikTok that she doesn't even care what the bag’s name is. What?
And then somehow, magically, after all this escalating, growing 48-hour excitement, on Thursday night, things come crashing right back down to Lydia's normal TikTok levels: 28K likes and 215 comments.
There is nothing organic or natural about 1,300% and 2,700% spikes...that go down as quickly as they go up.
Now go back and look at the first 3 TikToks that were posted earlier in the week—before the spike—and you can see they perform substantially worse, (even when those Amazon dresses can be found there too)! All 3 colored-boxed TikTok posts that fell under the spike period are ** doubling, tripling and more ** the performance of the week's earlier TikToks—when they have had less listing time. Why?
Therefore, these appear to likely be purchased views, likes & customized comments.
It is not hard, nor would it be expensive to do this, as there are countless social media “fake like” vendors everywhere, even on Etsy. Here is one where you could buy Wednesday's 5,000 comments for just $78 (but it's always even better when you buy in bulk!):
View attachment 1672255
Some sites allow you to buy the exact-worded comments you want to appear in advance so that the purchasercan set the perfect stage ...to then play off those pre-made, customized comments for the scripted engagement dance they wish to play out.
View attachment 1672256
So If Team Lydia had wanted to promote Amazon, for instance, it would be easy to buy many pre-baked Amazon comments/questions of their own making in advance that could then start trickling in on the exact TikToks they wanted, at the exact moment they wanted.
And what would be a cheaper, easier or better way to get people thinking that Lydia is adored by 14-24-year olds —one of the most coveted audiences by brands—than by purchasing a bunch of “I want to be you when I grow up!” comments—which just by the very nature of those words, allows people to subconsciously believe these are young and impressionable viewers... who have their pocketbooks open, ready to buy whatever Lydia is suggesting, so they can be just like her!
Another oddity? Lydia has made no secret of her inspiration/love ofThe Princess of Wales. Ironically, there are hundreds of comments like 'Wow, you look like Kate Middleton! " throughout, of which Lydia responds to more often than most.
View attachment 1672259
Also, recall how often Lydia has been pushing "go to my TikTok!" over the past few months, both on Instagram and YouTube, calling out all the milestone numbers and even creating "controversy" over it. She wants this to be noticed very much.
This would help explain some of these basic Amazon dresses' odd soaring numbers, but it could also explain some of the happily-touted TikTok success of late too.... when conversely, views & engagement on the other platforms have all been declining (more on that below).
WOULD IT BE **POSSIBLE**?:
Team Lydia filmed and broadcast their luxury bag shopping trip in London late last week to: (1) create content forMonday’s vlog (2) have a fun girls' day/night out ; (3) to brighten up Lydia’s bad week with a nice, feel-good purchase ; and (4) likely send a quiet message to the world that Lydia wasn’t sad/unaffected by things; but, (5) could it also have been to procure a bright, new shiny object for a big unboxing? This shiny object shouldn't be another out-of-touch Hermes bag—but something more universal and approachable, and what better than the #3 most sought-after brand by young women: Louis Vuitton (see that Piper Sandler report again above).
Thisshiny new Louis Vuitton object would not only naturally play off Lydia’s known love of LV trunks and her growing collection (which she makes sure to mention, don’t forget), but it is a luxury purchase unboxing which often naturally performs well on Tiktok.
So then, would a new Louis Vuitton bag unboxing not create a quite perfect and very believable "Trojan Horse TikTok," of which one could stuff a big TikTok views/likes/comments buy underneath— which would hopefully go undetected?
What is also peculiar is that yesterday—just 4 days later—Lydia posted this same LV reel on her YouTube Shorts. It has performed nowhere like it has on TikTok...achieving only 136 comments, 2.6K likes and 30K total views so far. While it is a few days behind, it has 0.937% the views—not even a full 1%—of what has been found with the TikTok success. And the likes are very out of whack too: they are 459,000 less than TikTok. Plus this YouTube reel was optimally uploaded on the weekend—unlike the weekday TikTok posting.
The deltas in these performance metrics should not be this extreme.
View attachment 1673334
Why might one ***potentially*** do this?
View attachment 1672408
The 3M-viewed Louis Vuitton TikTok was posted on Tuesday, October 18. Besides being a way to strategically support the YouTube vlog about this bag from the night before, there was also a lot happening in the background.
It had been nothing but a bad string of days for Team Lydia; not much had been going right.
Looking at it visually, across a calendar, it included: (1) a Holland Cooper "family announcement" backfiring and the embarrassment that inevitably accompanies that; (2) Victoria’s trip which she was noticeably excluded from; (3) Tattlers’ finding Globy in discount shops, which only served to revive the controversy; (4) Thursday’s UGG rant + Amazon questioning; (5) chickens that weren’t hers; (6) the Purdey mess...and more.
View attachment 1672267
It was all a doozy....something one might like to cover up—and quickly so.
And that may well be what happened.
For what might be a better way than to redirect attention over to TikTok, the new home you have been cultivating? It is also the one place where Holland Coper hadn't been announced; it is also the one place where people probably don't even know what Globy is; and it is also where OG YouTube & Instagram followers (who know a lot of these stories) won’t likely go or comment. But most of all, it is where all thehot social media action is. (Plus those TikTok buys are pretty cheap!)
Look at the calendar again when the TikTok spike dates are laid atop, shown in 🟣 purple 🟣 and the timing fits nearly perfectly—able to help deflect/distract, including the growing Purdey mess that was now starting to unfold.
View attachment 1672540
View attachment 1672409
The Lydia Millen brand has fallen since pre-pandemic times. Hello! used to write stories(albeit paid by the brand, but still...it was media coverage) about her. Strong brands like Farfetch, Laura Mercier, L'Oreal, By Terry and Estee Lauder/Aerin (and don't forget Lydia got to hold court with Aerin & interview her) all used to proudly feature her—unlike today, where they mainly give her a coupon code to let her unbox and sell their items with affiliate links from her sage green attic dressing room. Lydia isn't attending the events/PR trips/parties that she used to and it is rare that her face is proudly shown aside a brand, other than Karen Millen.
View attachment 1672283
Her engagement slippage isstarting to show on Instagram and YouTube, especially when clickbait titles are not used:
View attachment 1672272
And when you look at Lydia's life and partnerships of late (as shown below): (1) she is now found in London hotel powder rooms bemoaning lost perfume (which she then rather sillily days later, flaunts an obscene perfume arsenal, touting that it requires an assistant’s help to organize it all); (2) her Karen Millen collection is not faring well; even the most highly-featured "By Lydia" pieces are still fully available...a month later; (3) her idol, The Princess of Wales, wore an Elizabeth Hurley x Karen Millen Forever Dress—not something from Lydia's collection; and (4) partnerships with companies like Cosmetips haven’t sold out either, 1 month+ later. Her brand power is fading.
View attachment 1672277
When you contrast this to her frenemy, Victoria, it's a big difference. Victoria, on the other hand (as shown below): (1) is enjoying another “best-selling” jewelry launch; (2) ...which she and Lydia's old friends, including Josie, were whisked off to France for; (3) she has her upcoming, highly-promoted Holland Cooper line coming out; and (4) she literally has Jade’s embrace, something Lydia very publicly failed to secure.
View attachment 1672282
View attachment 1672411
This Lydia & Lauren/The LA Way's fast-growing friendship is confusing, but it seems a business relationship could also beblossoming, as was referenced in The LA Way's stories at Farmhouse the other night. Is it because Lydia’s Karen Millen deal is soon coming to an end...and Lydia is going to come under the fold there? Or is this just another client engagement, as not a lot of other influencers are wearing Aavelle—but "Queen Lydia" (as The LA Way adoringly calls her), will?
Whatever the case, Tuesday's Louis Vuitton TikTok was just as much an ad for Aavelle clothing& Aavelle hair bows than anything else—Aavelle likely could have not achieved 3.2M views, 461K likes & 6K+ comments on its own either.
And once again, when you look back at the calendar, this TikTok spike equally benefitted The LA Way/Aavelle too, whose launch was originally slated for this very day, before Aavelle suddenly moved its launch up to the night before, perhaps to also be fully ready to capitalize upon TikTok.
View attachment 1672288
View attachment 1672412
Finally, theholidays are now quickly upon us —a well-known make-or-break period for companies around the world. Influencers too. And Team Lydia needs to sell Lydia to prospective brands. So while Lydia's “Look at my TikTok Party” story the other day was shown to hopefully get viewers to become cross-platform users, the primarily purpose was likely to serve as a siren call for brands and PR managers to take note of her TikTok ascent (notice that she made sure to include her latest milestone numbers in the post), so Team Lydia can finalize/line up holiday partnerships & deals, especially on this critcal, growing platform.
View attachment 1672934
But it’s not just revenue that Team Lydia likely wishes to bring its way—they also need to fill up an entire month’s worth of content for Vlogmas videos—which includes a big risk of exposure if there are any shown drying-up work opportunities.
View attachment 1672291
Another example of a likely Lydia "soft holiday marketing sell" this past week would be the SpaceNK party stories she shared the other night. Filled with messages of "it is never too early for the holidays!", with classic holiday music playing underneath, it was a quiet reminder that Lydia is out on the town, ready for business and ready to be *YOUR BRAND'S* next Holiday influencer too!
(* Also, why would Lydia wear Vampire's Wife—instead of her many cashmere Amazon dresses, or something from her Karen Millen line to this soiree?)
View attachment 1672295.
All in all, things feel very "off"—not coming from a position of honesty, confidence and strength.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that things are not going well.
If you went to university I bet your essays were the stuff of legend.When you look further into theTikTok party that Lydia is inviting people to, it sadly may not be entirely real. Or reel.
But it is part of a larger story.
View attachment 1672237
Thursday night, when Lydia posted her most recent TikTok (surprise...it was another Amazon dress!), it was fascinating to see all the comments start flooding in, within the first 2 hours alone. Not only was it heavy with the usual“I want to be like you one day, Lydia!” but it was nearly equally matched by many Amazon-specific comments, like, “Are you saying that’s an Amazon dress!?!”
It smelled fishy.
View attachment 1673341
Especially when you look at this dress.What is it? Long-sleeved charcoal-colored “cashmere.” Same story, different day: an unknown brand (YTR6RTW) on Amazon that has no reviews and it is unclear of what it is really made.
When looking at the dress and listing itself, it would be hard to find a more basic dress than this. There is nothing standout about it; it has no exciting form, cut or shape to it. No embellishments. Not even a great styling of the dress on a model. Just plopped on a white background. 100% unremarkable—something few would click on.
🩺 🩺 🩺 This dress barely registers a pulse.
View attachment 1672241
So how does this unbranded, basic dress, some 72 hours later now have nearly 600K views, with people 'clamoring over it?' Especially when Lydia used few & basic hashtags on the posting, while forgetting its most potent one:#Amazon.
It doesn’t make sense.
So if not the dress, is it the wearer of this dress?
When you dig deeper and look into these younger viewers and what matters to them, who is it that they look up to these days? According to a fresh-off-the-presses Piper Sandler report, it would be Taylor Swift, Zendaya and Hailey Bieber. They also love brands like Nike and H&M most.
View attachment 1672243
When you look at it visually (as shown below), it becomes more apparent. The #EnglishCountryGrandmother meets #LydiainParis looks, with scarves tucked into belts, often with a headband, do not seem to jive/make Lydia along-lost style twin.
View attachment 1672245
There are sadly more signs of oddity than these.
EVIDENCE: In Lydia’s TikTok metrics from this past week.
Look at Lydia’s second most recent TikTok (the one in a red box) which was posted on Tuesday. This was the Louis Vuitton unboxing that has been discussed a lot. This TikTok has now yielded a whopping 3.2M+ views and 461K likes in 5 days. And her third most recent one (in the orange box)—yet another basic Amazon cashmere dress—has nearly 1M views in 6 days.
View attachment 1673269
From Thursday, October 13 – Thursday, October 20, Lydia posted 6 TikToks:
View attachment 1673265
When you look solely at engagement—not views—you can see that Lydia averages 30K likes & 250 comments per day on TikTok:
View attachment 1672250
But somehow this past Monday (one of the slowest days on TikTok) she suddenly gets 120,000 more likes than usual. Mostly for a basic, unknown Amazon dress.
And then on Tuesday, the day she posts her LV TikTok, things really get skyrocketing —she gets 3 TIMES even Monday’s 120,000 jump—for 360,000 more likes than usual.
So a 1,300% increase in likes in one day.
Even greater, she gets 5,000+ MORE comments than her usual daily 250 comments. Creating a 2,700% increase.
Yes, you read that correctly:a 2,700% increase in comments. On a Tuesday. And this was also able to happen when she: (1) didn't speak the name of the LV bag in the Tiktok; (2) didn't place the name in the title or description box; (3) nor in a #hashtag; and (4) admits in the TikTok that she doesn't even care what the bag’s name is. What?
And then somehow, magically, after all this escalating, growing 48-hour excitement, on Thursday night, things come crashing right back down to Lydia's normal TikTok levels: 28K likes and 215 comments.
There is nothing organic or natural about 1,300% and 2,700% spikes...that go down as quickly as they go up.
Now go back and look at the first 3 TikToks that were posted earlier in the week—before the spike—and you can see they perform substantially worse, (even when those Amazon dresses can be found there too)! All 3 colored-boxed TikTok posts that fell under the spike period are ** doubling, tripling and more ** the performance of the week's earlier TikToks—when they have had less listing time. Why?
Therefore, these appear to likely be purchased views, likes & customized comments.
It is not hard, nor would it be expensive to do this, as there are countless social media “fake like” vendors everywhere, even on Etsy. Here is one where you could buy Wednesday's 5,000 comments for just $78 (but it's always even better when you buy in bulk!):
View attachment 1672255
Some sites allow you to buy the exact-worded comments you want to appear in advance so that the purchasercan set the perfect stage ...to then play off those pre-made, customized comments for the scripted engagement dance they wish to play out.
View attachment 1672256
So If Team Lydia had wanted to promote Amazon, for instance, it would be easy to buy many pre-baked Amazon comments/questions of their own making in advance that could then start trickling in on the exact TikToks they wanted, at the exact moment they wanted.
And what would be a cheaper, easier or better way to get people thinking that Lydia is adored by 14-24-year olds —one of the most coveted audiences by brands—than by purchasing a bunch of “I want to be you when I grow up!” comments—which just by the very nature of those words, allows people to subconsciously believe these are young and impressionable viewers... who have their pocketbooks open, ready to buy whatever Lydia is suggesting, so they can be just like her!
Another oddity? Lydia has made no secret of her inspiration/love ofThe Princess of Wales. Ironically, there are hundreds of comments like 'Wow, you look like Kate Middleton! " throughout, of which Lydia responds to more often than most.
View attachment 1672259
Also, recall how often Lydia has been pushing "go to my TikTok!" over the past few months, both on Instagram and YouTube, calling out all the milestone numbers and even creating "controversy" over it. She wants this to be noticed very much.
This would help explain some of these basic Amazon dresses' odd soaring numbers, but it could also explain some of the happily-touted TikTok success of late too.... when conversely, views & engagement on the other platforms have all been declining (more on that below).
WOULD IT BE **POSSIBLE**?:
Team Lydia filmed and broadcast their luxury bag shopping trip in London late last week to: (1) create content forMonday’s vlog (2) have a fun girls' day/night out ; (3) to brighten up Lydia’s bad week with a nice, feel-good purchase ; and (4) likely send a quiet message to the world that Lydia wasn’t sad/unaffected by things; but, (5) could it also have been to procure a bright, new shiny object for a big unboxing? This shiny object shouldn't be another out-of-touch Hermes bag—but something more universal and approachable, and what better than the #3 most sought-after brand by young women: Louis Vuitton (see that Piper Sandler report again above).
Thisshiny new Louis Vuitton object would not only naturally play off Lydia’s known love of LV trunks and her growing collection (which she makes sure to mention, don’t forget), but it is a luxury purchase unboxing which often naturally performs well on Tiktok.
So then, would a new Louis Vuitton bag unboxing not create a quite perfect and very believable "Trojan Horse TikTok," of which one could stuff a big TikTok views/likes/comments buy underneath— which would hopefully go undetected?
What is also peculiar is that yesterday—just 4 days later—Lydia posted this same LV reel on her YouTube Shorts. It has performed nowhere like it has on TikTok...achieving only 136 comments, 2.6K likes and 30K total views so far. While it is a few days behind, it has 0.937% the views—not even a full 1%—of what has been found with the TikTok success. And the likes are very out of whack too: they are 459,000 less than TikTok. Plus this YouTube reel was optimally uploaded on the weekend—unlike the weekday TikTok posting.
The deltas in these performance metrics should not be this extreme.
View attachment 1673334
Why might one ***potentially*** do this?
View attachment 1672408
The 3M-viewed Louis Vuitton TikTok was posted on Tuesday, October 18. Besides being a way to strategically support the YouTube vlog about this bag from the night before, there was also a lot happening in the background.
It had been nothing but a bad string of days for Team Lydia; not much had been going right.
Looking at it visually, across a calendar, it included: (1) a Holland Cooper "family announcement" backfiring and the embarrassment that inevitably accompanies that; (2) Victoria’s trip which she was noticeably excluded from; (3) Tattlers’ finding Globy in discount shops, which only served to revive the controversy; (4) Thursday’s UGG rant + Amazon questioning; (5) chickens that weren’t hers; (6) the Purdey mess...and more.
View attachment 1672267
It was all a doozy....something one might like to cover up—and quickly so.
And that may well be what happened.
For what might be a better way than to redirect attention over to TikTok, the new home you have been cultivating? It is also the one place where Holland Coper hadn't been announced; it is also the one place where people probably don't even know what Globy is; and it is also where OG YouTube & Instagram followers (who know a lot of these stories) won’t likely go or comment. But most of all, it is where all thehot social media action is. (Plus those TikTok buys are pretty cheap!)
Look at the calendar again when the TikTok spike dates are laid atop, shown in 🟣 purple 🟣 and the timing fits nearly perfectly—able to help deflect/distract, including the growing Purdey mess that was now starting to unfold.
View attachment 1672540
View attachment 1672409
The Lydia Millen brand has fallen since pre-pandemic times. Hello! used to write stories(albeit paid by the brand, but still...it was media coverage) about her. Strong brands like Farfetch, Laura Mercier, L'Oreal, By Terry and Estee Lauder/Aerin (and don't forget Lydia got to hold court with Aerin & interview her) all used to proudly feature her—unlike today, where they mainly give her a coupon code to let her unbox and sell their items with affiliate links from her sage green attic dressing room. Lydia isn't attending the events/PR trips/parties that she used to and it is rare that her face is proudly shown aside a brand, other than Karen Millen.
View attachment 1672283
Her engagement slippage isstarting to show on Instagram and YouTube, especially when clickbait titles are not used:
View attachment 1672272
And when you look at Lydia's life and partnerships of late (as shown below): (1) she is now found in London hotel powder rooms bemoaning lost perfume (which she then rather sillily days later, flaunts an obscene perfume arsenal, touting that it requires an assistant’s help to organize it all); (2) her Karen Millen collection is not faring well; even the most highly-featured "By Lydia" pieces are still fully available...a month later; (3) her idol, The Princess of Wales, wore an Elizabeth Hurley x Karen Millen Forever Dress—not something from Lydia's collection; and (4) partnerships with companies like Cosmetips haven’t sold out either, 1 month+ later. Her brand power is fading.
View attachment 1672277
When you contrast this to her frenemy, Victoria, it's a big difference. Victoria, on the other hand (as shown below): (1) is enjoying another “best-selling” jewelry launch; (2) ...which she and Lydia's old friends, including Josie, were whisked off to France for; (3) she has her upcoming, highly-promoted Holland Cooper line coming out; and (4) she literally has Jade’s embrace, something Lydia very publicly failed to secure.
View attachment 1672282
View attachment 1672411
This Lydia & Lauren/The LA Way's fast-growing friendship is confusing, but it seems a business relationship could also beblossoming, as was referenced in The LA Way's stories at Farmhouse the other night. Is it because Lydia’s Karen Millen deal is soon coming to an end...and Lydia is going to come under the fold there? Or is this just another client engagement, as not a lot of other influencers are wearing Aavelle—but "Queen Lydia" (as The LA Way adoringly calls her), will?
Whatever the case, Tuesday's Louis Vuitton TikTok was just as much an ad for Aavelle clothing& Aavelle hair bows than anything else—Aavelle likely could have not achieved 3.2M views, 461K likes & 6K+ comments on its own either.
And once again, when you look back at the calendar, this TikTok spike equally benefitted The LA Way/Aavelle too, whose launch was originally slated for this very day, before Aavelle suddenly moved its launch up to the night before, perhaps to also be fully ready to capitalize upon TikTok.
View attachment 1672288
View attachment 1672412
Finally, theholidays are now quickly upon us —a well-known make-or-break period for companies around the world. Influencers too. And Team Lydia needs to sell Lydia to prospective brands. So while Lydia's “Look at my TikTok Party” story the other day was shown to hopefully get viewers to become cross-platform users, the primarily purpose was likely to serve as a siren call for brands and PR managers to take note of her TikTok ascent (notice that she made sure to include her latest milestone numbers in the post), so Team Lydia can finalize/line up holiday partnerships & deals, especially on this critcal, growing platform.
View attachment 1672934
But it’s not just revenue that Team Lydia likely wishes to bring its way—they also need to fill up an entire month’s worth of content for Vlogmas videos—which includes a big risk of exposure if there are any shown drying-up work opportunities.
View attachment 1672291
Another example of a likely Lydia "soft holiday marketing sell" this past week would be the SpaceNK party stories she shared the other night. Filled with messages of "it is never too early for the holidays!", with classic holiday music playing underneath, it was a quiet reminder that Lydia is out on the town, ready for business and ready to be *YOUR BRAND'S* next Holiday influencer too!
(* Also, why would Lydia wear Vampire's Wife—instead of her many cashmere Amazon dresses, or something from her Karen Millen line to this soiree?)
View attachment 1672295.
All in all, things feel very "off"—not coming from a position of honesty, confidence and strength.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that things are not going well.
Wow. Can you buy comments to go on other people’s Titoks? Asking for a friend.When you look further into theTikTok party that Lydia is inviting people to, it sadly may not be entirely real. Or reel.
But it is part of a larger story.
View attachment 1672237
Thursday night, when Lydia posted her most recent TikTok (surprise...it was another Amazon dress!), it was fascinating to see all the comments start flooding in, within the first 2 hours alone. Not only was it heavy with the usual“I want to be like you one day, Lydia!” but it was nearly equally matched by many Amazon-specific comments, like, “Are you saying that’s an Amazon dress!?!”
It smelled fishy.
View attachment 1673341
Especially when you look at this dress.What is it? Long-sleeved charcoal-colored “cashmere.” Same story, different day: an unknown brand (YTR6RTW) on Amazon that has no reviews and it is unclear of what it is really made.
When looking at the dress and listing itself, it would be hard to find a more basic dress than this. There is nothing standout about it; it has no exciting form, cut or shape to it. No embellishments. Not even a great styling of the dress on a model. Just plopped on a white background. 100% unremarkable—something few would click on.
🩺 🩺 🩺 This dress barely registers a pulse.
View attachment 1672241
So how does this unbranded, basic dress, some 72 hours later now have nearly 600K views, with people 'clamoring over it?' Especially when Lydia used few & basic hashtags on the posting, while forgetting its most potent one:#Amazon.
It doesn’t make sense.
So if not the dress, is it the wearer of this dress?
When you dig deeper and look into these younger viewers and what matters to them, who is it that they look up to these days? According to a fresh-off-the-presses Piper Sandler report, it would be Taylor Swift, Zendaya and Hailey Bieber. They also love brands like Nike and H&M most.
View attachment 1672243
When you look at it visually (as shown below), it becomes more apparent. The #EnglishCountryGrandmother meets #LydiainParis looks, with scarves tucked into belts, often with a headband, do not seem to jive/make Lydia along-lost style twin.
View attachment 1672245
There are sadly more signs of oddity than these.
EVIDENCE: In Lydia’s TikTok metrics from this past week.
Look at Lydia’s second most recent TikTok (the one in a red box) which was posted on Tuesday. This was the Louis Vuitton unboxing that has been discussed a lot. This TikTok has now yielded a whopping 3.2M+ views and 461K likes in 5 days. And her third most recent one (in the orange box)—yet another basic Amazon cashmere dress—has nearly 1M views in 6 days.
View attachment 1673269
From Thursday, October 13 – Thursday, October 20, Lydia posted 6 TikToks:
View attachment 1673265
When you look solely at engagement—not views—you can see that Lydia averages 30K likes & 250 comments per day on TikTok:
View attachment 1672250
But somehow this past Monday (one of the slowest days on TikTok) she suddenly gets 120,000 more likes than usual. Mostly for a basic, unknown Amazon dress.
And then on Tuesday, the day she posts her LV TikTok, things really get skyrocketing —she gets 3 TIMES even Monday’s 120,000 jump—for 360,000 more likes than usual.
So a 1,300% increase in likes in one day.
Even greater, she gets 5,000+ MORE comments than her usual daily 250 comments. Creating a 2,700% increase.
Yes, you read that correctly:a 2,700% increase in comments. On a Tuesday. And this was also able to happen when she: (1) didn't speak the name of the LV bag in the Tiktok; (2) didn't place the name in the title or description box; (3) nor in a #hashtag; and (4) admits in the TikTok that she doesn't even care what the bag’s name is. What?
And then somehow, magically, after all this escalating, growing 48-hour excitement, on Thursday night, things come crashing right back down to Lydia's normal TikTok levels: 28K likes and 215 comments.
There is nothing organic or natural about 1,300% and 2,700% spikes...that go down as quickly as they go up.
Now go back and look at the first 3 TikToks that were posted earlier in the week—before the spike—and you can see they perform substantially worse, (even when those Amazon dresses can be found there too)! All 3 colored-boxed TikTok posts that fell under the spike period are ** doubling, tripling and more ** the performance of the week's earlier TikToks—when they have had less listing time. Why?
Therefore, these appear to likely be purchased views, likes & customized comments.
It is not hard, nor would it be expensive to do this, as there are countless social media “fake like” vendors everywhere, even on Etsy. Here is one where you could buy Wednesday's 5,000 comments for just $78 (but it's always even better when you buy in bulk!):
View attachment 1672255
Some sites allow you to buy the exact-worded comments you want to appear in advance so that the purchasercan set the perfect stage ...to then play off those pre-made, customized comments for the scripted engagement dance they wish to play out.
View attachment 1672256
So If Team Lydia had wanted to promote Amazon, for instance, it would be easy to buy many pre-baked Amazon comments/questions of their own making in advance that could then start trickling in on the exact TikToks they wanted, at the exact moment they wanted.
And what would be a cheaper, easier or better way to get people thinking that Lydia is adored by 14-24-year olds —one of the most coveted audiences by brands—than by purchasing a bunch of “I want to be you when I grow up!” comments—which just by the very nature of those words, allows people to subconsciously believe these are young and impressionable viewers... who have their pocketbooks open, ready to buy whatever Lydia is suggesting, so they can be just like her!
Another oddity? Lydia has made no secret of her inspiration/love ofThe Princess of Wales. Ironically, there are hundreds of comments like 'Wow, you look like Kate Middleton! " throughout, of which Lydia responds to more often than most.
View attachment 1672259
Also, recall how often Lydia has been pushing "go to my TikTok!" over the past few months, both on Instagram and YouTube, calling out all the milestone numbers and even creating "controversy" over it. She wants this to be noticed very much.
This would help explain some of these basic Amazon dresses' odd soaring numbers, but it could also explain some of the happily-touted TikTok success of late too.... when conversely, views & engagement on the other platforms have all been declining (more on that below).
WOULD IT BE **POSSIBLE**?:
Team Lydia filmed and broadcast their luxury bag shopping trip in London late last week to: (1) create content forMonday’s vlog (2) have a fun girls' day/night out ; (3) to brighten up Lydia’s bad week with a nice, feel-good purchase ; and (4) likely send a quiet message to the world that Lydia wasn’t sad/unaffected by things; but, (5) could it also have been to procure a bright, new shiny object for a big unboxing? This shiny object shouldn't be another out-of-touch Hermes bag—but something more universal and approachable, and what better than the #3 most sought-after brand by young women: Louis Vuitton (see that Piper Sandler report again above).
Thisshiny new Louis Vuitton object would not only naturally play off Lydia’s known love of LV trunks and her growing collection (which she makes sure to mention, don’t forget), but it is a luxury purchase unboxing which often naturally performs well on Tiktok.
So then, would a new Louis Vuitton bag unboxing not create a quite perfect and very believable "Trojan Horse TikTok," of which one could stuff a big TikTok views/likes/comments buy underneath— which would hopefully go undetected?
What is also peculiar is that yesterday—just 4 days later—Lydia posted this same LV reel on her YouTube Shorts. It has performed nowhere like it has on TikTok...achieving only 136 comments, 2.6K likes and 30K total views so far. While it is a few days behind, it has 0.937% the views—not even a full 1%—of what has been found with the TikTok success. And the likes are very out of whack too: they are 459,000 less than TikTok. Plus this YouTube reel was optimally uploaded on the weekend—unlike the weekday TikTok posting.
The deltas in these performance metrics should not be this extreme.
View attachment 1673334
Why might one ***potentially*** do this?
View attachment 1672408
The 3M-viewed Louis Vuitton TikTok was posted on Tuesday, October 18. Besides being a way to strategically support the YouTube vlog about this bag from the night before, there was also a lot happening in the background.
It had been nothing but a bad string of days for Team Lydia; not much had been going right.
Looking at it visually, across a calendar, it included: (1) a Holland Cooper "family announcement" backfiring and the embarrassment that inevitably accompanies that; (2) Victoria’s trip which she was noticeably excluded from; (3) Tattlers’ finding Globy in discount shops, which only served to revive the controversy; (4) Thursday’s UGG rant + Amazon questioning; (5) chickens that weren’t hers; (6) the Purdey mess...and more.
View attachment 1672267
It was all a doozy....something one might like to cover up—and quickly so.
And that may well be what happened.
For what might be a better way than to redirect attention over to TikTok, the new home you have been cultivating? It is also the one place where Holland Coper hadn't been announced; it is also the one place where people probably don't even know what Globy is; and it is also where OG YouTube & Instagram followers (who know a lot of these stories) won’t likely go or comment. But most of all, it is where all thehot social media action is. (Plus those TikTok buys are pretty cheap!)
Look at the calendar again when the TikTok spike dates are laid atop, shown in 🟣 purple 🟣 and the timing fits nearly perfectly—able to help deflect/distract, including the growing Purdey mess that was now starting to unfold.
View attachment 1672540
View attachment 1672409
The Lydia Millen brand has fallen since pre-pandemic times. Hello! used to write stories(albeit paid by the brand, but still...it was media coverage) about her. Strong brands like Farfetch, Laura Mercier, L'Oreal, By Terry and Estee Lauder/Aerin (and don't forget Lydia got to hold court with Aerin & interview her) all used to proudly feature her—unlike today, where they mainly give her a coupon code to let her unbox and sell their items with affiliate links from her sage green attic dressing room. Lydia isn't attending the events/PR trips/parties that she used to and it is rare that her face is proudly shown aside a brand, other than Karen Millen.
View attachment 1672283
Her engagement slippage isstarting to show on Instagram and YouTube, especially when clickbait titles are not used:
View attachment 1672272
And when you look at Lydia's life and partnerships of late (as shown below): (1) she is now found in London hotel powder rooms bemoaning lost perfume (which she then rather sillily days later, flaunts an obscene perfume arsenal, touting that it requires an assistant’s help to organize it all); (2) her Karen Millen collection is not faring well; even the most highly-featured "By Lydia" pieces are still fully available...a month later; (3) her idol, The Princess of Wales, wore an Elizabeth Hurley x Karen Millen Forever Dress—not something from Lydia's collection; and (4) partnerships with companies like Cosmetips haven’t sold out either, 1 month+ later. Her brand power is fading.
View attachment 1672277
When you contrast this to her frenemy, Victoria, it's a big difference. Victoria, on the other hand (as shown below): (1) is enjoying another “best-selling” jewelry launch; (2) ...which she and Lydia's old friends, including Josie, were whisked off to France for; (3) she has her upcoming, highly-promoted Holland Cooper line coming out; and (4) she literally has Jade’s embrace, something Lydia very publicly failed to secure.
View attachment 1672282
View attachment 1672411
This Lydia & Lauren/The LA Way's fast-growing friendship is confusing, but it seems a business relationship could also beblossoming, as was referenced in The LA Way's stories at Farmhouse the other night. Is it because Lydia’s Karen Millen deal is soon coming to an end...and Lydia is going to come under the fold there? Or is this just another client engagement, as not a lot of other influencers are wearing Aavelle—but "Queen Lydia" (as The LA Way adoringly calls her), will?
Whatever the case, Tuesday's Louis Vuitton TikTok was just as much an ad for Aavelle clothing& Aavelle hair bows than anything else—Aavelle likely could have not achieved 3.2M views, 461K likes & 6K+ comments on its own either.
And once again, when you look back at the calendar, this TikTok spike equally benefitted The LA Way/Aavelle too, whose launch was originally slated for this very day, before Aavelle suddenly moved its launch up to the night before, perhaps to also be fully ready to capitalize upon TikTok.
View attachment 1672288
View attachment 1672412
Finally, theholidays are now quickly upon us —a well-known make-or-break period for companies around the world. Influencers too. And Team Lydia needs to sell Lydia to prospective brands. So while Lydia's “Look at my TikTok Party” story the other day was shown to hopefully get viewers to become cross-platform users, the primarily purpose was likely to serve as a siren call for brands and PR managers to take note of her TikTok ascent (notice that she made sure to include her latest milestone numbers in the post), so Team Lydia can finalize/line up holiday partnerships & deals, especially on this critcal, growing platform.
View attachment 1672934
But it’s not just revenue that Team Lydia likely wishes to bring its way—they also need to fill up an entire month’s worth of content for Vlogmas videos—which includes a big risk of exposure if there are any shown drying-up work opportunities.
View attachment 1672291
Another example of a likely Lydia "soft holiday marketing sell" this past week would be the SpaceNK party stories she shared the other night. Filled with messages of "it is never too early for the holidays!", with classic holiday music playing underneath, it was a quiet reminder that Lydia is out on the town, ready for business and ready to be *YOUR BRAND'S* next Holiday influencer too!
(* Also, why would Lydia wear Vampire's Wife—instead of her many cashmere Amazon dresses, or something from her Karen Millen line to this soiree?)
View attachment 1672295.
All in all, things feel very "off"—not coming from a position of honesty, confidence and strength.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that things are not going well.
Nah he's definitely a "bottom" ...ahahaha (sorry but I just had to @Allexie01Aaaaarrrgghh he’s leaning again……
View attachment 1672208
and a different version of leaning…
View attachment 1672211
gotta be said….he’s versatile!
Lyds' latest following on IG made me laugh.That’s what I took from the word ‘clients’ too
Notice how she said she is a collector of antique LV trunks. She is not a collector, she has 2 trunks which means she has a pair not a collection
Excellent investigation. This exposure of this industry should be reposted in the news. You have not only exposed LEM, but the entire cheap con artistry of influencers and alike across the board. I wonder if the actual large social media companies and top online retail stores secretly created, own, and run those fake vendors companies to rig views, likes, comments, and engagement. I have always never believed those millions of views metics in social media posts and streaming videos/music. The charts are all rigged, bought, and paid for.When you look further into theTikTok party that Lydia is inviting people to, it sadly may not be entirely real. Or reel.
But it is part of a larger story.
View attachment 1672237
Thursday night, when Lydia posted her most recent TikTok (surprise...it was another Amazon dress!), it was fascinating to see all the comments start flooding in, within the first 2 hours alone. Not only was it heavy with the usual“I want to be like you one day, Lydia!” but it was nearly equally matched by many Amazon-specific comments, like, “Are you saying that’s an Amazon dress!?!”
It smelled fishy.
View attachment 1673341
Especially when you look at this dress.What is it? Long-sleeved charcoal-colored “cashmere.” Same story, different day: an unknown brand (YTR6RTW) on Amazon that has no reviews and it is unclear of what it is really made.
When looking at the dress and listing itself, it would be hard to find a more basic dress than this. There is nothing standout about it; it has no exciting form, cut or shape to it. No embellishments. Not even a great styling of the dress on a model. Just plopped on a white background. 100% unremarkable—something few would click on.
🩺 🩺 🩺 This dress barely registers a pulse.
View attachment 1672241
So how does this unbranded, basic dress, some 72 hours later now have nearly 600K views, with people 'clamoring over it?' Especially when Lydia used few & basic hashtags on the posting, while forgetting its most potent one:#Amazon.
It doesn’t make sense.
So if not the dress, is it the wearer of this dress?
When you dig deeper and look into these younger viewers and what matters to them, who is it that they look up to these days? According to a fresh-off-the-presses Piper Sandler report, it would be Taylor Swift, Zendaya and Hailey Bieber. They also love brands like Nike and H&M most.
View attachment 1672243
When you look at it visually (as shown below), it becomes more apparent. The #EnglishCountryGrandmother meets #LydiainParis looks, with scarves tucked into belts, often with a headband, do not seem to jive/make Lydia along-lost style twin.
View attachment 1672245
There are sadly more signs of oddity than these.
EVIDENCE: In Lydia’s TikTok metrics from this past week.
Look at Lydia’s second most recent TikTok (the one in a red box) which was posted on Tuesday. This was the Louis Vuitton unboxing that has been discussed a lot. This TikTok has now yielded a whopping 3.2M+ views and 461K likes in 5 days. And her third most recent one (in the orange box)—yet another basic Amazon cashmere dress—has nearly 1M views in 6 days.
View attachment 1673269
From Thursday, October 13 – Thursday, October 20, Lydia posted 6 TikToks:
View attachment 1673265
When you look solely at engagement—not views—you can see that Lydia averages 30K likes & 250 comments per day on TikTok:
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But somehow this past Monday (one of the slowest days on TikTok) she suddenly gets 120,000 more likes than usual. Mostly for a basic, unknown Amazon dress.
And then on Tuesday, the day she posts her LV TikTok, things really get skyrocketing —she gets 3 TIMES even Monday’s 120,000 jump—for 360,000 more likes than usual.
So a 1,300% increase in likes in one day.
Even greater, she gets 5,000+ MORE comments than her usual daily 250 comments. Creating a 2,700% increase.
Yes, you read that correctly:a 2,700% increase in comments. On a Tuesday. And this was also able to happen when she: (1) didn't speak the name of the LV bag in the Tiktok; (2) didn't place the name in the title or description box; (3) nor in a #hashtag; and (4) admits in the TikTok that she doesn't even care what the bag’s name is. What?
And then somehow, magically, after all this escalating, growing 48-hour excitement, on Thursday night, things come crashing right back down to Lydia's normal TikTok levels: 28K likes and 215 comments.
There is nothing organic or natural about 1,300% and 2,700% spikes...that go down as quickly as they go up.
Now go back and look at the first 3 TikToks that were posted earlier in the week—before the spike—and you can see they perform substantially worse, (even when those Amazon dresses can be found there too)! All 3 colored-boxed TikTok posts that fell under the spike period are ** doubling, tripling and more ** the performance of the week's earlier TikToks—when they have had less listing time. Why?
Therefore, these appear to likely be purchased views, likes & customized comments.
It is not hard, nor would it be expensive to do this, as there are countless social media “fake like” vendors everywhere, even on Etsy. Here is one where you could buy Wednesday's 5,000 comments for just $78 (but it's always even better when you buy in bulk!):
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Some sites allow you to buy the exact-worded comments you want to appear in advance so that the purchasercan set the perfect stage ...to then play off those pre-made, customized comments for the scripted engagement dance they wish to play out.
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So If Team Lydia had wanted to promote Amazon, for instance, it would be easy to buy many pre-baked Amazon comments/questions of their own making in advance that could then start trickling in on the exact TikToks they wanted, at the exact moment they wanted.
And what would be a cheaper, easier or better way to get people thinking that Lydia is adored by 14-24-year olds —one of the most coveted audiences by brands—than by purchasing a bunch of “I want to be you when I grow up!” comments—which just by the very nature of those words, allows people to subconsciously believe these are young and impressionable viewers... who have their pocketbooks open, ready to buy whatever Lydia is suggesting, so they can be just like her!
Another oddity? Lydia has made no secret of her inspiration/love ofThe Princess of Wales. Ironically, there are hundreds of comments like 'Wow, you look like Kate Middleton! " throughout, of which Lydia responds to more often than most.
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Also, recall how often Lydia has been pushing "go to my TikTok!" over the past few months, both on Instagram and YouTube, calling out all the milestone numbers and even creating "controversy" over it. She wants this to be noticed very much.
This would help explain some of these basic Amazon dresses' odd soaring numbers, but it could also explain some of the happily-touted TikTok success of late too.... when conversely, views & engagement on the other platforms have all been declining (more on that below).
WOULD IT BE **POSSIBLE**?:
Team Lydia filmed and broadcast their luxury bag shopping trip in London late last week to: (1) create content forMonday’s vlog (2) have a fun girls' day/night out ; (3) to brighten up Lydia’s bad week with a nice, feel-good purchase ; and (4) likely send a quiet message to the world that Lydia wasn’t sad/unaffected by things; but, (5) could it also have been to procure a bright, new shiny object for a big unboxing? This shiny object shouldn't be another out-of-touch Hermes bag—but something more universal and approachable, and what better than the #3 most sought-after brand by young women: Louis Vuitton (see that Piper Sandler report again above).
Thisshiny new Louis Vuitton object would not only naturally play off Lydia’s known love of LV trunks and her growing collection (which she makes sure to mention, don’t forget), but it is a luxury purchase unboxing which often naturally performs well on Tiktok.
So then, would a new Louis Vuitton bag unboxing not create a quite perfect and very believable "Trojan Horse TikTok," of which one could stuff a big TikTok views/likes/comments buy underneath— which would hopefully go undetected?
What is also peculiar is that yesterday—just 4 days later—Lydia posted this same LV reel on her YouTube Shorts. It has performed nowhere like it has on TikTok...achieving only 136 comments, 2.6K likes and 30K total views so far. While it is a few days behind, it has 0.937% the views—not even a full 1%—of what has been found with the TikTok success. And the likes are very out of whack too: they are 459,000 less than TikTok. Plus this YouTube reel was optimally uploaded on the weekend—unlike the weekday TikTok posting.
The deltas in these performance metrics should not be this extreme.
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Why might one ***potentially*** do this?
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The 3M-viewed Louis Vuitton TikTok was posted on Tuesday, October 18. Besides being a way to strategically support the YouTube vlog about this bag from the night before, there was also a lot happening in the background.
It had been nothing but a bad string of days for Team Lydia; not much had been going right.
Looking at it visually, across a calendar, it included: (1) a Holland Cooper "family announcement" backfiring and the embarrassment that inevitably accompanies that; (2) Victoria’s trip which she was noticeably excluded from; (3) Tattlers’ finding Globy in discount shops, which only served to revive the controversy; (4) Thursday’s UGG rant + Amazon questioning; (5) chickens that weren’t hers; (6) the Purdey mess...and more.
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It was all a doozy....something one might like to cover up—and quickly so.
And that may well be what happened.
For what might be a better way than to redirect attention over to TikTok, the new home you have been cultivating? It is also the one place where Holland Coper hadn't been announced; it is also the one place where people probably don't even know what Globy is; and it is also where OG YouTube & Instagram followers (who know a lot of these stories) won’t likely go or comment. But most of all, it is where all thehot social media action is. (Plus those TikTok buys are pretty cheap!)
Look at the calendar again when the TikTok spike dates are laid atop, shown in 🟣 purple 🟣 and the timing fits nearly perfectly—able to help deflect/distract, including the growing Purdey mess that was now starting to unfold.
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The Lydia Millen brand has fallen since pre-pandemic times. Hello! used to write stories(albeit paid by the brand, but still...it was media coverage) about her. Strong brands like Farfetch, Laura Mercier, L'Oreal, By Terry and Estee Lauder/Aerin (and don't forget Lydia got to hold court with Aerin & interview her) all used to proudly feature her—unlike today, where they mainly give her a coupon code to let her unbox and sell their items with affiliate links from her sage green attic dressing room. Lydia isn't attending the events/PR trips/parties that she used to and it is rare that her face is proudly shown aside a brand, other than Karen Millen.
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Her engagement slippage isstarting to show on Instagram and YouTube, especially when clickbait titles are not used:
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And when you look at Lydia's life and partnerships of late (as shown below): (1) she is now found in London hotel powder rooms bemoaning lost perfume (which she then rather sillily days later, flaunts an obscene perfume arsenal, touting that it requires an assistant’s help to organize it all); (2) her Karen Millen collection is not faring well; even the most highly-featured "By Lydia" pieces are still fully available...a month later; (3) her idol, The Princess of Wales, wore an Elizabeth Hurley x Karen Millen Forever Dress—not something from Lydia's collection; and (4) partnerships with companies like Cosmetips haven’t sold out either, 1 month+ later. Her brand power is fading.
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When you contrast this to her frenemy, Victoria, it's a big difference. Victoria, on the other hand (as shown below): (1) is enjoying another “best-selling” jewelry launch; (2) ...which she and Lydia's old friends, including Josie, were whisked off to France for; (3) she has her upcoming, highly-promoted Holland Cooper line coming out; and (4) she literally has Jade’s embrace, something Lydia very publicly failed to secure.
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This Lydia & Lauren/The LA Way's fast-growing friendship is confusing, but it seems a business relationship could also beblossoming, as was referenced in The LA Way's stories at Farmhouse the other night. Is it because Lydia’s Karen Millen deal is soon coming to an end...and Lydia is going to come under the fold there? Or is this just another client engagement, as not a lot of other influencers are wearing Aavelle—but "Queen Lydia" (as The LA Way adoringly calls her), will?
Whatever the case, Tuesday's Louis Vuitton TikTok was just as much an ad for Aavelle clothing& Aavelle hair bows than anything else—Aavelle likely could have not achieved 3.2M views, 461K likes & 6K+ comments on its own either.
And once again, when you look back at the calendar, this TikTok spike equally benefitted The LA Way/Aavelle too, whose launch was originally slated for this very day, before Aavelle suddenly moved its launch up to the night before, perhaps to also be fully ready to capitalize upon TikTok.
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Finally, theholidays are now quickly upon us —a well-known make-or-break period for companies around the world. Influencers too. And Team Lydia needs to sell Lydia to prospective brands. So while Lydia's “Look at my TikTok Party” story the other day was shown to hopefully get viewers to become cross-platform users, the primarily purpose was likely to serve as a siren call for brands and PR managers to take note of her TikTok ascent (notice that she made sure to include her latest milestone numbers in the post), so Team Lydia can finalize/line up holiday partnerships & deals, especially on this critcal, growing platform.
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But it’s not just revenue that Team Lydia likely wishes to bring its way—they also need to fill up an entire month’s worth of content for Vlogmas videos—which includes a big risk of exposure if there are any shown drying-up work opportunities.
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Another example of a likely Lydia "soft holiday marketing sell" this past week would be the SpaceNK party stories she shared the other night. Filled with messages of "it is never too early for the holidays!", with classic holiday music playing underneath, it was a quiet reminder that Lydia is out on the town, ready for business and ready to be *YOUR BRAND'S* next Holiday influencer too!
(* Also, why would Lydia wear Vampire's Wife—instead of her many cashmere Amazon dresses, or something from her Karen Millen line to this soiree?)
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All in all, things feel very "off"—not coming from a position of honesty, confidence and strength.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that things are not going well.
Funny how "Aston Martin" is just casually shown in this picture ...... try hard much? ..social climber? or just sadly desperate .. you choose?Brilliant post. You have hit on so many points, so thought-provoking, receipts / analytics attached. Her desperation is palpable. Can we mass report her Tik Tok account for fraud ?
Doofus.
At least the newspaper is right side up ...
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