As Consumers, We Must Influence the Influencers
The recent uproar of Kim Kardashian’s latest product endorsement has gotten me thinking about the role we, as consumers, play in influencer marketing.
If you have opened Instagram or Twitter this past week, chances are that amidst the barrage of content, you may have seen some uproar over a recent sponsored post from Kim Kardashian that proved to be quite controversial.
On Tuesday, May 15, Kim Kardashian shared an image of her sucking on a lollipop with the caption “#ad “You guys…@flattummyco just dropped a new product. They’re Appetite Suppressant Lollipops and they’re literally unreal. They’re giving the first 500 people on their website 15% OFF so if you want to get your hands on some…you need to do it quick! #suckit”.
My first reaction upon seeing this post come across my feed was “Is this for real?” I have tried to cultivate a positive, uplifting feed for myself by following only people that share that type of content, so maybe I’m just not used to seeing something that seems to so casually support what I know to be a harmful practice (skipping meals) come across my feed. But the fast backlash that arose after the post was shared showed that I was not alone in my disbelief.
People were quick to decry the post, calling it irresponsible and disgusting. Many noted that Kim Kardashian has a huge sphere of influence, especially over young girls, and that her presenting the idea that suppressing one’s appetite or skipping meals is a sustainable method of weight loss is very concerning. Of course, a major issue with this post is that Kim did not give much context into her usage of the product. She, for example, did not explain that she was using them as a way to curb cravings and minimize snacking between meals, which for many people can be a healthy method of weight loss. Instead, she simply described them as “unbelievable”. The lack of context could lead some people to quickly jump to viewing them as a tool for skipping meals, which is an unhealthy habit to promote.
Many articles were published, such as the ones from Glamour Magazine and Buzzfeed chronicling the various negative responses that were received on social media, and the one from Washington Post that claims that this is not an isolated incident, and revisits some of the “questionable products” that the Kardashian entourage has sponsored in the past.
Because there are already countless articles to read about this issue, I want to take a look at it from a slightly different angle, and consider what role we, as consumers, play in the actual influencing of influencer marketing.
In recent times, there have been more discussions about what exactly the social responsibility of a social media influencer is. A big part of influencer culture that has most often come under criticism is the degree of inauthenticity it often comes with- the feeling that celebrities are only endorsing products because of the payoff it provides for them, not because they genuinely like and/or use the product and think that it could improve the lives of their audiences if they purchased it. Last year, the FTC cracked down on sponsored posts, reminding influencers that they should “clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting or endorsing products through social media” (hence the #ad at the beginning of Kardashian’s post).
Beyond that, however, is the concern over the actual products that celebrities are endorsing. Any product that a celebrity endorses can be seen as an extension of that celebrity’s brand, and a representation of his or her values. I believe that celebrities have full responsibility for the products that they choose to endorse, and thus I believe that Kim Kardashian is implicit in choosing to endorse a product, and a company (Flat Tummy Tea) that promotes an unhealthy “quick fix” diet culture and perpetuates shame around bodies that are not conventionally beautiful, or thin.
What makes the bite sting in this particular incident, however, is not just that Kim chose to endorse such a product, but that she backpedaled from doing so once she realized how negative the response was. If you go on her Instagram account, you can still find the original ad image, but now the caption is simply a lollipop emoji. All evidence of her endorsement of the Appetite Suppressant Lollipops is seemingly erased (except, of course, for all the screenshots, articles, tweets, and general outrage that now exists on the Internet). But Kim has, for all intents and purposes, seemingly withdrawn her endorsement of this product.
Clearly Kim saw the negative backlash, and knew that it did not look good for her overall brand. I find it hard to believe that Kim did not foresee this negative backlash, but maybe she took some time to reflect and will learn from this experience. Nonetheless, I wish that her response was more than a simple caption change, which to me reads as a quick attempt to brush the whole debacle aside.
In my ideal world, posts like these would not exist. I hope that they become less and less prevalent as they continue to receive negative backlash and audiences and consumers alike show that they are not content to have the people in the spotlight endorsing products like these that perpetuate harmful ideas of health and wellness.
In my ideal world, we also would not be looking to the Kardashians or celebrities like them to be the champions of body positivity and empowerment. But the truth is that these celebrities do have a huge realm of influence. And while it is true that celebrities have the right to endorse whatever products they want, they also have the power and (in my opinion) the responsibility to put at least a little bit more consideration into the products they are endorsing, and how they might be reinforcing ideas or practices that are harmful, even if the intent is good.
All that being said, we may believe that we have no control over this culture of sponsored posts from celebrities on Instagram and what they are promoting, but…we do. The backbone of influencer marketing is the return on investment that the company receives in the form of a sales spike after a promoted post. Thus, it is actually on us, the consumers, to vote with our like buttons and our wallets.
We should refuse to spend money on products that promote values we don’t support. We should unfollow celebrities that endorse said products. And we should speak up about why we don’t support said products, so that companies and celebrities alike can begin to get a clearer picture of what consumers actually want to see, and what they want to spend their time, attention, and money on. With conscious effort, consumers can steer companies and celebrities towards adopting the values and principles that we want to see become the standard in our society.
