Can We Trust Celebrity Endorsements? | Part Three

Welcome back!

Over the past few years, the influence that bloggers and You Tuber’s have on society has increased dramatically. The rising success that a lot of them have seen could be viewed as not only overwhelming but also slightly frightening. Many of them went from blogging and making videos as a hobby, to now viewing it as their full time job, collaborating with multiple big name brands on a daily basis. As a person who runs a fairly new blog, I am of course envious of these people who have hit a point where they can make huge sums of money through simply writing and talking about their interests. I do feel though, that honesty becomes a rarity when people hit this level of Internet fame. If you’re being offered a lot of money to discuss lets say a new skincare range from a particularly well-known brand, you’re naturally going to be expected to speak positively about them. In reality though, these influencers could rave about said products and then never use them, but that is a side of it we as viewers will never know the truth about. Very rarely will a brand collaborate with a blogger or You Tuber and not tell them certain things that have to be mentioned such as any offers the brand is running at that time. Due to this, I feel there is a definite lack of passion, sometimes almost coming across as robotic, like they can’t actually express their own honest opinion. As a result, whenever I watch a brand orientated video or read a blog post, I take whatever that particular influencer is saying with a pinch of salt which is unnerving as so many people go to their channels or websites for supposedly honest opinions. 

An example of influencer dishonesty that I have noticed recently became apparent through British blogger and You Tuber Tanya Burr. She frequently films haul videos for various well-known brands – two recent ones being ASOS and LUSH Cosmetics. In the title of the ASOS haul Tanya specifies that the products within the video are endorsed through the inclusion of the word ‘ad’ but in the LUSH Cosmetics one she does not. Alarm bells ring immediately here as it displays that there is a massive inconsistency within her videos. This is again extremely misleading for her viewers, because although she may genuinely love the products she is talking about, she has still failed to specify that a monetary transaction has taken place. That being said, I was very surprised to discover that a lot of bloggers feel their engagement ratings are lower on posts that include information regarding endorsements. It’s as though viewers want influencers to be honest but in a less point blank way as it taints the façade of their perfect lifestyles.

Love, Lana Skye x 

Source Credit: Refinery29, The New York Times. 
Photo Credit: Tanya Burr Instagram.