A beach club in the popular surfing destination Siargao has had enough of wannabe social media influencers.
In a sarcastic Facebook on Tuesday, White Banana Beach Club made it loud and clear that they have no interest in collaborating with “self-proclaimed influencers” who have apparently been contacting them for free food and accommodations.
“Help out there. We are receiving many messages regarding collaborations with influencers, Instagram influencers. We kindly would like to announce that White Banana is not interested to ‘collaborate’ with self-proclaimed ‘influencers,’ And we would like to suggest to try another way to eat, drink, or sleep for free. Or try to actually work,” the caption reads.
The post has close to 7,000 reactions, over 2,000 shares, and 400 comments as of this article’s posting.
The term “influencer” refers to people who have reached a certain type of celebrity status on social media. This includes those Instagram models who randomly pop up on your feed, fashion and food bloggers, and lifestyle “gurus” on YouTube.
Businesses tap influencers to promote their products and services, sometimes in exchange for money or, in other cases free stuff. While some influencers are legitimately able to influence their followers, there are also tons of others who just want in on the perks.
White Banana Beach Club’s #savage post struck a chord with a lot of netizens, many of whom have apparently had enough of these self-proclaimed influencers too.
Facebook user Karla Stefan Singson called them “begpackers.”
“So many people want to be ‘influencers’ just to have free products/services. FYI, freeloaders, you have to work for those collaborations, sponsors are the ones who reach out to real influencer/s to work with them,” Charlies Barnachea said in Filipino with a facepalm emoji.
Jeramy Turla criticized how some people would do anything just for a good Instagram photo.
“HAHAHA I LOVE THIS. them cheap ass mofos should stop feeling like they’re entitled for (sic) everything just for the sake of the gram,” he said.
But some netizens also came to the defense of these aspiring influencers.
“If these people formally sent you a message, I think they deserve a formal rejection as well. Not like this. I do blog tho. I have a full-time job, and I work hard to be able to travel so I can have a (sic) content,” Jovelun Mateo said.
“I recently tried pitching to resorts and hotels, because why not right? There’s no harm in trying, and if you know that you have something to offer on the table it’s never a bad thing to try. That’s all. Thanks for coming to my ted talk. Just kidding.”
Geng Maderazo said that despite what others might think, being an influencer is a very demanding job.
“[C]reating content is somewhat a ton of effort. I’m having fun, yes, but to be a legit influencer or blogger, it takes courage and hard work,” she said.
She also shared that she has started reaching out to hotels too and sees nothing wrong with it.
“I am just starting to treat this thing as a secondary job and as someone who loves visiting and showcasing beautiful resorts on my pages, recently, I have been pitching myself and sending proposal letters to some hotels and resorts.
“I can pay for my stay at any of these resorts but, wouldn’t I want to get paid, or at least receive a good deal for the hard work?” she said.
In another post yesterday, White Banana Beach Club clarified that they are not against influencers but freeloaders.
“A REAL influencer is called as such by the rest, he does not address him/herself as an influencer. They are bloggers. We have actually collaborated with a few of them, in different terms and conditions, and we support them.
“There are real influencers, that in case we will contact and pay or offer. But look what, they’ve never contacted us, beside the very begin, as they don’t need us. We need them,” the post reads.
What’s your take on this issue? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @CoconutsManila.
