To find influencers being gifted stuff puts me off the brand?

[Sparrowchicken]

I know the concept and point of influencers being gifted stuff, it's because they have a social media reach and it's a lot cheaper for the brand to send some stuff than to develop ads and pay for them to be distributed.

I don't follow a tonne of people but often get videos or posts showing up in my suggested feed, saw one yesterday for a brand aimed at mid 20s plus, so young adults and adults rather than teens etc. The 'influencer' was gifted tickets to the Eras tour (which are well sought after) even though they've posted about going numerous times before, and lots of products in return for a quick, lazy video and post saying wow look what I got.

I love this brand, I've used it for years, and I know it's petty as when you spend money on them they can spend it on what they want, but I've reached the point it just puts me off. Sadly the list of brands that don't work with influencers is probably small so limits options of avoiding it.

Does anyone else find it off putting? On the one hand yeah sure it allows 'regular' people to make a career on social media, and maybe it is just jealousy- when you work hard for your money and spend it on these products it is crap to see someone get loads (that theyll probably never use) for free. Or do you ever feel influenced and like it makes a product more appealing?

I don’t follow any influencers either so I’d have no idea if they did!

I feel like the concept will have had it’s day soon.

With many young people watching ad-free platforms like Netflix or paying to avoid ads on platforms like YouTube, I can see why advertisers use influencers to sell products.

If influencers didn’t sell products then they wouldn’t use them. There are clearly people who watch and buy and by sending out lots of product then a brand can help make a mediocre product go viral.

I think that an influencer selling their own product is fair enough and selling on QVC type channels takes skills that I don’t have. Transparency around gifts has improved but some bury that info deep in their caption which is shady behaviour imo.

I can't stand the influencers (previously bloggers) it really puts me off the products
These insta/you tube and TikTok faces thinking they are famous when a lot could sell their granny for commission

Nope nope nope

As for the TikTok shop, with the "normal" people flogging plastic tat from china with "someone will get sacked for these prices" etc it's getting ridiculous, everything is amazing
I made the mistake of buying some make up, as expected it was tat so I commented on someone's page selling it saying don't waste your money I found it not very good, I was roasted

It doesn’t so much put me off the brand, but it does put me off the instagrammer, so I have unfollowed if I think someone is just selling to me. Im Probably naive to not accept that’s the whole point of some people being on Instagram.

I either like a product or not an influenced pushing something is not going to make me buy it but it works, any sensible business would do this because people are gullible and will fall for anything so it makes sense for a business to do it

I have no interest in influencers don't fill them and genuinely couldn't name one unless you would call the kardashians one but no it would not put me off because why would I blame them doing something that helps their business?

I get that, and finding influencers who actually use the products or are talented so can do make up tutorials, tests, create creative content with them is a great option to showcase the products and get the brand out there on socials.What benefit is it to send one to an unrelated event with no post about the products themselves, especially when it's obvious they don't use the products anyway? It's just off putting with the freebies (unrelated to the product) or the excessive amounts they receive for free.

At least with glossy ads it's obvious it's a paid for advert by the brand, lots of influencers are purposefully misleading or the brands assume we are stupid and meant to believe that they genuinely use/love x, y or z product.

Dont blame influencers for grifting by the way, why wouldn't they if offered?

I just don't see why brands think sending them to events or whatever is supposed to be appealing, especially when the only mention of the (unrelated to event) brand isn't mentioned beside a lazy tag in the caption. Who is it inspiring to buy said unrelated product?

That already exists. But many people can't afford that level of 'aspiration'.

Though i'm not sure what seeing something worn by a film or sports star makes it 'aspirational' either.

I think that's what a lot of people like about the 'influencers' - that they can more often afford the things they're promoting.

Many influencers are victims of their own success I suppose. A couple that spring to mind are the likes of Lydia Millen, Victoria (InTheFrow) and Josie (fashionmumbler). I used to follow all of them because they would talk about brands I would buy. All fairly high-end but still within reach. But now their platforms have become so successful they are being thrown free Aston Martins and Bentleys and it’s like they live the lives of fucking rock stars. I just wonder how many people are put off when they start the day making coffee in their 6 grand coffee maker and pop to soho farmhouse in their 120k Porsche and nip back to arrange the hydrangeas in their little rental cottage in the Cotswolds. They get flown by helicopter in and out of events like Cheltenham, I just often wonder how big is the market they are appealing to? Do many females watch them and think ‘yeah fuck it, I’ll by an Aston Martin and charter a helicopter for me a the girls to go to Ascot.’

Totally agree. Influencers and brands that work with them get short shrift from me.

The minute I see “ad” in an influencers caption, I’m out.
Gifted stuff, I’m also out.

genuine opinions are hard to find

I follow a few "influencers" on tiktok who are in similar stages of life to me (with toddlers) as I find it interesting.
Any video where they are promoting gifted items gets skipped - especially if it's a link to buy from tiktok shop!!
I do get annoyed if I get halfway through a normal looking video of theirs (a day in the life type of thing) only to realise it's a sneaky advert for a product that they start talking about halfway through 🙄

I don't mind when it's incidental - eg I follow a few fitness people on Instagram and the ones with large followings sometimes/often have partnerships with the companies who make sportswear. So they do their video or post and add that the kit they are wearing is from x company. That is ok.

But otherwise it does come over as being very vacuous.

Oh I hate this! As soon as I hear the words "someone is going to get fired for these prices" or "I can't believe I bought this on amazon when it's half the price on tiktok shop" - the video is getting skipped

Can I add a related promotional tactic that puts me off a purchase?

On Ocado, I often click on a product I’m interested in and see it’s had dozens of reviews and they mention getting it for free and I feel so resentful but also don’t really trust the reviews. It used to only be products gifted by Ocado but now I see people mentioning something called Influenster as well.

So annoying because the reviews can be really useful.

Yep, and weirdly the one that annoys me most is Lucy and Yak - they built their rep initially around being a sort of environmentally friendly, ethical brand (they've changed their tactics on this slightly when they realised their customer base was catching onto them) but then sent out their stuff to a load of fast fashion consumption influencers. Just didn't sit right.

I only follow a few horsey "influencers" (though tbh I wouldn't lump them in that category) and have used a couple of sponsored products which have actually worked really well.

I hate that the influencer's reviews are bound to be biased. If they slammed the product, they'd not get any more freebies from that firm (and it may put off other firms too if they thought they could be slammed).

We've spent decades trying to control the media though laws, codes of practice etc., to try to avoid bias, lies, dishonesty etc. Even down to having "product placement" warnings on Soap Operas etc., and films/tv programs deliberately hiding/obscuring brand names or making fake brand names on products within camera shot.

Now, we're back to the wild west with influencers plugging their freebies, just to get more likes, more followers, etc., which in turn gets them even more freebies.

We're going backwards. At least, I think there needs to be laws on transparency where the influencer has to make it clear that the product/service/holiday or whatever that they're "unboxing" or reviewing was provided as a freebie or at a discount so that the viewer/follower will realise there may be bias at play.

I watch someone's shorts on youtube (That sounds kinky, but short videos, not actual shorts) ... she got a box of hair products yesterday.
She does cooking - albeit in a really odd vaguely amusing way. So completely nothing to do with hair products.

It did make me question why I watch her at all!

I did used to follow Tati and stopped after the third or fourth "haul video" of her opening dozens of boxes of products. I realised it made me feel gross and I didn't like the mass consumption aspect at all.

I don't get put off by companies sending influencers their products. I can see how that's a mutually beneficial arrangement and does get decent and relevant publicity for the brand/item. I don't trust the influencer is being 100% honest in their opinions, but I appreciate seeing the product in action. I can go and see/test the product myself but the influencer can give me valuable ideas on how to style something, how it looks from a distance, basic features and why I might need them etc.

Sending them on PR trips or gifting them entire holidays does really turn me off. The few influencers I follow on instagram seem to constantly be hosted for fancy meals, weekends away at spas etc. That really turns me off, as the brand is clearly spending a significant amount on this and it's purely just for the influencer's benefit.

There are crafting, decor and fashion accounts I follow on Instagram, but I follow them for their ideas/methods and tend to just look at the pictures, or watch videos withthe sound off. I never buy products based on them. I'm not interested in their lifestyles. I don't think I've ever followed any well-known influencers. The ones who get mentioned on MN threads always sound awful.

Totally agree. I saw an influencer that was gifted tickets to the eras tour aswell. The caption was something along the lines of 'I didn't think I'd know that many songs/have a good time but it was amazing. Thank you [insert brand name here]' and I was baffled by it. I'm not a TS fan really but I know there are loads of people who would kill to be in that spot! And it's not like the eras tour needs any publicity?! If they had the means to send people to the eras tour in VIP spots, why not put it out to the public, run a competition or something?

I also just find this huge over consumption of products really gross, hundreds of different products being advertised by one influencer and 'hauls' they do.. it's just complete over the top consumerism.

The events and freebies have always existed though, it’s just that previously these were for press, PR and customers so were more ‘behind closed doors’. I went to some great sporting events in my early 20s as my employer was being hosted as a special customer. Anti bribery regulations in early 2000s dampened down ‘hospitality’ for a while as no one wanted to get prosecuted(!) but it’s back with a vengeance and a lot more widely known about because of influencer marketing

I work for a brand and the begging letters from influencers and would-be influencers are honestly embarrassing. I