Under the Influence

Not only are famous people rich as fuck, but they also get free stuff all the time. It makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint, but from my perspective it’s totally unfair. Just because I only have 360 followers on Twitter doesn’t mean I’m not as influential as Beyonce, there are tons of other reasons too! I want the free shit too ya’ll; I’ll wear the heck out of anything you want me to, as long as I don’t have to pay a single dime for it.

The reason that the rich are getting richer is because businesses realized the potential of utilizing influencers to promote their products.

Influencer marketing targets a more niche audience than any other type of advertising because of the power the influencer has on their audience. We trust people who are like us, and people who we want to be, so if we see them wearing army pants and flip flops, we’re gonna wear army pants and flip flops too.

Take Kate Middleton for example. Designers love to send her free clothing because as soon as she’s seen wearing it “The Middelton Effect” ensues. Whatever she dresses in is immediately sold out in stores.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye’s kid, North West, got 50 grand worth of Stella McCartney, Hermen, and Giuseppe Zanotti (I have never heard of this brand but I assume it’s expensive because I can’t pronounce it) products.

During the Winter Olympics in Suchi, 100,000 condoms were given out to athletes at the Olympic Village. That’s about 35 condoms a day for each athlete… but anyone would need that amount of they were built like a god.

“We are deeply concerned that Mr Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We have therefore offered a substantial payment to Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino and the producers of MTV’s Jersey Shore to have the character wear an alternate brand. We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response.”

AF fo’ lyfe yo…until they pay you cold cash not to wear it.

The bottom line is that commercials are more effective on specific platforms, because when you advertise something to everyone, it loses its effect. Bloggers like Girl With No Job and podcast hosts Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld are given stuff for free all the time because of how influential they are.

SO, if you want to get free $hit from your favorite companies, you just gotta have the charisma and personality that compels people to follow you! Easy as Crème brûlée, aka it’s extremely hard and I’m still waiting on my complimentary shipment of PopSockets after publishing a very evangelist article.