Insta-Influencers - Do you think we really care? Read the flipping room!

[Chocolateteabag]

What is with all the "look at us all having a lovely lunch/drinks party/holiday abroad/trip to Ascot/Wimbledon blah blah blah"

Do brands really think that watching other people having a lovely freebie time will get us plebs rushing to pay full whack for their stuff?
Is that really going to drive up sales as we head into fricking recession?

I don't really mind being shown stuff by the Insta lot in their bedrooms or flouncing about next to their nearest wall. I get to see what clothes look like on different shapes etc etc

But seriously - seeing "the beautiful people" all rolling about laughing and having a fabulous time to "launch a new product" or "celebrate" such and such brand feels so "them & us" - AIBU?

Yes YABU - you jealous fool
No YANBU - there is something a bit weird in promoting a brand by having an exclusive event which only a small special group are invited - exclusionary?

I voted Yanbu but im a bit jealous and would definitely take the freebie if offered!

It obviously does work for these companies otherwise they wouldn't collab! I never fall for it though. What gets me is the ones who rave about a product but clearly don't use them!

Surely the answer is to only follow people/pages that make you happy?

I think it’s nice to see a bit of positivity (even if it’s faked).

I don’t follow any of them but it clearly works as a marketing strategy or else why would the companies bother at all?

No, you are right. It's weird. Someone I follow is at a freebie stay at a hotel I didn't know about, so that works as publicity, but something like being a guest of Brand X at Wimbledon is more about getting the influencer to like Brand X and feature their stuff. I don't need to see the table settings at beauty product launch parties!

YABU because you are doing this to yourself. If something doesnt suit your interest, budget or needs you unfollow them. Why would you follow someone who makes you feel bad or envious? There are people who can and will afford to go out and buy from those you reference. You might be a budget/confidence level above someone who lives next door. I'm not on Instagram, I know there are so many pages I'd love to follow but I also know how easily led I am with scrolling on and on and it wouldn't suit me and my confidence seeing the beautiful people so I stick with FB.

I find the whole ‘influencer’ rubbish completely nauseating at the best of times…. Let alone when people are feeling the pinch.

I don't know why people follow them. They are boring people. I only follow people I find interesting, just don't follow them.

Maybe one of the very many people on MN who follow them and are influenced by them would like to comment?

I’m with you. But - it works 🤷🏻‍♀️

I mean, it must work or companies wouldn’t do it, but hopefully if one good thing comes out of this awful crisis it’ll be the decline of influencers and fake it til you make it.

Follow who you want and stop being upset at what your feed is showing you

I actively avoid companies I’ve previously loved who give free stuff to rich white women. Sofa.com and Missoma looking at you 👀

I'm completely with you Op...sick and tired of seeing these well off women being gifted items left right and centre...the ad they then post to promote the gift is hilarious...so fake and its obvious they are only using the product as it was free...I refuse to buy from companies who use influencers.

I don't see this stuff on my feed because I don't follow any of these wazzocks. I suggest you do the same if they bother you!

I don't care about the posts themselves, I care more that all these celebs and influencers go to wimbledon and glasto and seem to have forgotten that covid exists

It's just marketing. Marketing in 2022.
When people don't watch live TV or buy newspapers & magazines, products still need marketing. And this is how people buy. Lots of people.

TV ads weren't real either!

Apart from friends and family, I only follow musicians/writers/actors I like I.e people with discernible talent who deserve their success.

Why should I care about some local mum and her staged photo shoot to promote a new car park in town? I find the whole thing perplexing and shit.

Stop following these people! I don’t follow anyone I consider a qvc influencer and I literally never see this sort of stuff. I follow food accounts (which to be fair influence me to up my game in the kitchen!), photography accounts, education ones, family ones etc, there may be the odd sponsored post from time to time but it’s rare that I notice them and i appreciate that everyone has to earn a living someway. But not the perpetual churning out of free stuff that an influencer will be given and then paid to promote without them spending any of their money on it, it’s disingenuous and I’m old enough to know it’s false!

It's hard to be influenced or take these accounts opinions when often every other post is #ad or #gifted, I do follow a lot of these accounts though from before they got so "big" - they just aren't as genuine anymore...and the portrayed lifestyle is attainable for most of us and often so far removed from their beginnings. I personally prefer smaller insta accounts, although I guess alot of these accounts all aspire to the #ad type life.

I agree there is a tone deafness to it. Stacey Solomon and her swimming pool for example.

i bloody love Stacey but even I haven’t felt like watching her stories recently.

‘Influencers’ in general put me off products if I’m honest. I can’t trust a word that comes out of their mouth as they get paid to have a certain opinion on products as they get them for free but try to convince the rest of us hardworking people to spend our hard earned cash on things they receive for free. Nope, I prefer shopping the good old fashioned way. I’m not into consumerism, if I want something I’ll do my own research, not be influenced by someone else unless they are someone to be trusted.

🧐🥱

But yes to actually answer your question this type of marking works, people easily fall for this stuff so they carry on.

*marketing, grr!

Just stop looking. They only carry on because they have an audience.