People who can afford all the things getting it for free!

[Purpleturtle45]

I know I am just jealous but does it wind anyone else up when you see celebs being gifted free products, holidays, meals etc?

Doesn't sit right the people who can afford it get if for free and then try and sell it to the people who can't afford it!

I know I am being unreasonable but just wondered if it bugged anyone else!

They're advertising it.

I boycott any brands who gift themselves to influencers.

I’ve got a friend who is a very famous model. She receives packages every day. Expensive cosmetics, clothes, bags, all free. If she likes it she does a post about it and the brand gets about a million views. Other times she does paid for posts, for which she also gets to keep the stuff AND gets paid quite a few thousand per post. No I don’t begrudge it. That’s her job, that’s how that world works these days.

I have to say it's so well-known now that influencer endorsements are adverts that I don't know why some people still fall for it and buy the stuff!

For example, in no way does Claudia Winkleman use Head and Shoulders, and 20-something fashion Instagrammers are not wearing M&S coats in their real lives.

Yes and when top management at a company get all the perks, like private health care, company cars, moving packages etc, alongside their huge salaries. When they are the ones who could afford this stuff for themselves.

This is how modern advertising works - one of DS’s friends is a rising sports star, he’s constantly being sent stuff in the hope that he will wear it on social media etc. its massively cheaper for them than magazine/tv campaign would have been years ago i imagine!

Yanbu. I boycott brands that gift to influencers, obviously the product is crap if they need to give it to people to sell to poorer people.

Weirdly Claudia did one of those 'In the bathroom with Sali Hughes ' episodes years ago and genuinely did seem to use Head and Shoulders, which surprised me!

If it bothers you, stop following these people.

It is shit but I don’t think it’s possible to stop companies giving stuff away to whoever they want - and I’m not sure we’d want to!

I guess it would be nice if companies gave things to those who can’t afford them too but that’s life I suppose.

Yes we can change the system but I think that’s more likely to happen by improving the wages people are paid etc

Money begets money.

It’s payment in kind for their work of advertising it. Do you think people should work for nothing? You’re getting annoyed with the wrong people. If you were offered something for free in return for advertising it, I’m sure you would take it. Don’t be surprised that others are doing the same.

PS I don’t actually follow any influencers but I’ve heard tell of this!

It's their job. Personally I prefer to keep my life off social media so it wouldn't work for me. But it's what they do.

If people didn't follow them then they wouldn't get it so don't follow them or click their links.

I can’t bear influencers and find them a bit cringe but now that so many people opt out of adverts on their streaming services/ buy fewer magazines etc what are manufacturers supposed to do to plug their products? At least now influencers are supposed to say when their post is an ad. It’s when children are brought into it that I struggle - you just know they will grow up wanting to do the same and not valuing education/proper jobs.
I am not jealous of any influencers though because we all know the trolling they will have to tolerate and have to spend the majority of their lives documenting their family life - sod that. Plus they could fall out of a favour at a minutes notice and then what?

The worst part for me is we now don’t get some of the amazing and funny adverts that we used to get.

Honestly 😭😭 so unfair

I find this a completely bizarre thought process. In the old days companies used to give celebs free stuff but also pay newspapers or tv channels to advertise their products. Now they do less newspaper TV and more paying celebs and influencers to advertise for them. It’s cheap and easy, and presumably effective.

how does that business process get translated into “people shouldn’t get things for free”??? It’s just so weird.

Because that is part of the whole employment package. It's not getting things free. You might think they're overpaid but that's a different argument.

So far as influencers and celebrities - that's just advertising and basically part of their job too. Up to you whether you ignore the ads or buy the goods.

On the other hand if you're referring to Angela Rayner et al freebies, taking them is not part of the job. I despise that sort of greedy, grasping hypocrisy.

I wish people were educated more about ‘ how not to be influenced by other people ‘ . Unfortunately the lower ranking designers target the poor as they are the ones who aspire to their products. The true designer brands are really only affordable by the ultra rich. People making themselves poor trying to look rich is an age old tale.

And wearing designer gear with the name emblazoned across it is advertising in its simplest form.

There was a ‘Clarks’ run about 5 years ago that really got on my tits. They were sending out free ‘back to school’ shoes to all the minor celebs and insta-families like Giovanni Fletcher and MOD/FOD for their kids. Don’t tell me that’s advertising - we all know that Clark’s do school shoes. Clark’s would have got way better publicity if they had chosen a school, in a very deprived area and given each child a pair of shoes. Instead, waste of time, professional grifters like the above were all given free shoes that they could afford anyway. Wouldn’t buy from Clark’s again.

Celebrities have always advertised stuff. It’s just via different mediums now.

But the influencer is supposed to (and paid to) go and do a little cheerful video about "going to get measured as a back to school tradition" and then talk about how long they'll last and their fit promise etc etc.
It's not just supposed to make people think Clarks is run by nice people who donated some shoes. That sort of stuff is managed by a Social and Corporate Responsibility team versus the paid marketing budget.

I know they are advertising stuff, obviously. And I know celebrities have always advertised stuff and this is just a sign of the times. I think it's just the fact it's on their stories and almost just merges in with their personal content as well. I know they have to put 'ad' but it's frustrating seeing a millionaire celebrity selling a holiday for thousands of pounds a night they got for free, to people who in all likelihood will never be able to afford it. Just seems like rubbing people's faces in it.