Packages, packets…even if Christmas is still far! But it seems that it is already time to open presents, at least for a few people. Gifts to the influencers from those press offices that represent various brands are uncountable, and the instagrammers don’t waste time in posting the decisive moment of the unwrapping on their IG Stories.
In the past it was an open secret: a taboo that everybody knew. We are talking about gifts to the influencers, those cadeaux that companies decide to give them to promote their products. Nobody has ever had any doubt about the origin of these little presents (the press offices of course!), but when the truth is unveiled, everyone feels like when they find out that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, and since we are talking about gifts, it’s the perfect example.
Since the creation of the internet (or at least since they have existed) the role of the bloggers or the serial posters has been to spontaneously and naturally promote those products that in theory they chose without any external conditioning. It’s the old “I strongly suggest you…” said by a friend, but with a higher number of users, beyond your own living room.
But nobody has ever believed that all that bloggers suggestions arose from their personal experience. Let’s be clear: everybody knew and withheld. Gifts to the influencers have always existed but it was forbidden to talk about them. It was confidential information just for authorized personnel and not for the audience, or to be precise, for the followers. In the art of unwrapping there used to be more shyness, it was a private moment characterized by the same discretion that people have when they get an envelope with money inside from their grandma on their birthday, and wait to be back home to check out the amount.
Now the trend has radically changed: the moment of the opening of the box from the Press Office to the influencer happens live on social networks, and so tons of IG Stories like there’s no tomorrow.
They venture into the contents like if they want to explore a mysterious cave full of treasures. The facial expression associated with the discovery of the object is always one of surprise, the classic “OMG!” that is spontaneous like the split ends of Chiara Ferragni in the shampoo commercial.
Why is this change happening? On one hand there’s for sure the increased information accessibility: everybody can enjoy multimedia content, everybody can start a live streaming and (almost) everybody is becoming aware about the world of web marketing. Sometimes silent battles take place online: who collected more presents? Who got more views and likes? If we have a look at Instagram, it could appear that the number of gifts to the influencers terribly augmented in the latest period: no, it’s only information distortion.
Everybody unwraps and often, the result of that unwrapping leads to our Xmas wish lists. Nobody is shocked or feels cheated, simply because nobody has ever thought that bloggers work for nothing. Fame is not enough to survive because, as my grandma said (and believe me, she was always very generous for my birthday!), it’s important to fill the pot with something more. Even better if kindly offered by a sponsor (as I like to say!).
