Why Are Social Media Influencers Giving Brands A Miss

Over the years, they were approached by several small brands for collaboration and endorsements but it was a deal with Veeba Food in 2017 that set the business ball rolling for them.

바카라�We were thrilled! We always saw ads on TV but never thought that one day we would be doing something similar with brands,바카라� says Sudarshan Hebbar, an IT professional who moonlights as the channel바카라�s videographer.

It, however, didn바카라�t take long for them to realise what the deals were really all about. 바카라�We realised it wasn바카라�t something for us to be emotional about. I figured out that to showcase a 15 to 30-second video on social media channels, brands had to shell out lakhs. I understood why brands were coming to publishers (like them) and we laid down some ground rules,바카라� he adds.

While the ground rules have made them picky, their location makes the deals tricky. 바카라�We make sure to try a brand before posting about it,바카라� says Archana. Once they find the brand and the product satisfactory, different recipe ideas featuring the product are shared with the brand for its approval. It isn바카라�t easy for brands to send samples to them from India, they say. But that isn바카라�t something they바카라�re ready to compromise on.

바카라�At the initial stages of the deal, brands say yes to everything but at the final day of the launch, they come up with last-minute changes,바카라� says Sudarshan. But there have been times when he has put his foot down and stuck strictly to the initial agreement.

바카라�Dealing with brands is not easy,바카라� he states matter-of-factly. 바카라�They have a different mindset and we have a different one. Sometimes, the mindsets don바카라�t gel and we just have to let it go,바카라� he adds.

Sudarshan recollects a tie-up with a vegetable sanitiser brand.. 바카라�The brand wanted the video to look like an ad, but that바카라�s not what we do. For us, our recipes are at the heart of our videos and we plug the brand products very subtly in between,바카라� Sudarshan says.

While the pandemic hasn바카라�t ended yet, Hebbar바카라�s Kitchen바카라�s deal with the vegetable sanitiser brand sure did. 바카라�It didn바카라�t work out at the end of the day as there were major disagreements,바카라� says Sudarshan.

Back home, Anupriya Kapur, a Gurugram-based blogger and fitness enthusiast, echoes one of the points that Archana made. The single mom, who creates content around fitness, lifestyle and travel for her over 2 lakh followers on Instagram, says that she doesn바카라�t endorse anything that she doesn바카라�t use.  

For instance, body shapers are something that she a fitness enthusiast doesn바카라�t believe in. 바카라�I am a believer in activities and in movements. So, such conflicts are always there,바카라� she says.

Kapur says that if a product is being used at her home, she is okay being the face of it. "If my son eats something or I eat something, I don't mind endorsing that. But how can I endorse something that I don바카라�t consume,바카라� she adds.

While friends caution her about losing out on big deals because 바카라�everyone does it바카라�, she knows what she wants and what she is doing. 바카라�Somewhere, you make a choice. And, that's my parameter,바카라� she says.

Renowned dietician Swati Bathwal doesn바카라�t take on brand deals at all. Close to 30 brands approach her every month through Instagram, LinkedIn and email for brand endorsements but she hasn바카라�t said yes to any of them.  

바카라�I will not endorse any product until and unless I believe in it. As long as it바카라�s natural and coming directly from the source, I바카라�m happy. I바카라�d rather promote a farmer than a multinational company and make the profits go to them,바카라� she says.

Becoming a celebrity or creating a business model wasn바카라�t on her mind when she began her journey on social media. 바카라�I just wanted people to know about what they were eating, whether it was right and how the freshness of the food they ate impacted their health,바카라� she says.

바카라�Instead of endorsing a specific brand that sells, say, olive oil and which also sells two of three other kinds of oils, I would rather tell people to buy a specific kind of product. For instance, if they바카라�re looking to buy olive oil, I바카라�d tell them that it has to be in a dark glass bottle, should be labelled correctly and should be cold-pressed,바카라� she further adds.

She also gets into the moral and ethical dissonance with the same brand selling two diametrically opposite products. 바카라�A company that produces edible vegetable oil or refined oil that is going to cause them (consumers) heart attacks is also going to sell them oats? What바카라�s the point? You promote heart attack and then you say how to recover from it,바카라� Bathwal says.  

 바카라�I say 바카라�no바카라� because then I바카라�m liable to work according to them (the brands) and I바카라�m not sure if they are the people I want to be working for because I know what is right,바카라� she adds.

A dietician and public health expert with over 12 years of experience, Bathwal primarily speaks from a medical standpoint. She has been accredited by a number of international associations related to nutrition and that comes with its own set of responsibilities. She says she has to make sure that the product that she is actually supporting is genuine. 바카라�If I don바카라�t know anything about the product, how can I recommend it to anybody?바카라� she asks.

Promoting packaged products (fruit juice in this case) is one other thing that doesn바카라�t sit well with Bathwal. 바카라�At home, fresh juices go bad quickly. How can it be fresh on the supermarket shelf? Is that going to be healthy for somebody who consumes it? How can I promote that product?바카라� she asks.