Exactly. Thing is, I don't even begrudge that so many of her high end furnishings were gifted. If companies approached me, and were like "here have all this free tit!" I would not say no. What really puzzles me is why some influencers won't just state it honestly. I really don't understand this need for everyone to have this facade of wealth on IG. We know you didn't pay for it because all your IG peers have the exact same brass wall lights!
Exactly! But that's just it though, isn't it. The less attainable the grid, the more people want/admire it.
They gain their following by humble bragging the perfect unattainable high end life, brands want in on that by slipping some of their products in to make others want them too.
You can have this perfect fancy life too if you just buy all this overpriced crap that all these influencers have, not realising they didn't buy it at all!
Influencers don't want to be honest because it ruins the illusion they've created, that got them the following in the first place. They'd rather carry on bragging. And many bands are more than happy for them to not be honest - the best advert is when you don't even know it's an ad at all.
That's why the influencer advertising has become so big and that's why it's so dishonest. Neither party gain from being honest about dishing out freebies for grid space - it doesn't make them seem as appealing. It's win win for the influencer and the brand, it's just the unaware consumer that it's so damaging to and the whole thing STINKS.
People are finally starting to wake up to it all though, and when the brands realise that, the whole bubble will burst.