Digital screens rise up against consumerism

When buying any product, what does an average citizen do, who lives without great financial constraints, but also does not waste her money without self-control? In general, use it until you run out and need to purchase another one.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
29 April 2024 Monday 11:13
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Digital screens rise up against consumerism

When buying any product, what does an average citizen do, who lives without great financial constraints, but also does not waste her money without self-control? In general, use it until you run out and need to purchase another one. However, what happens to the stars of digital screens, who receive hundreds of gifts a week? Well, something very different.

As most confess, they rarely rush these items. Often, after the first use, the packaging or box ends up in the trash, along with its contents. On the other hand, in recent months there has been a trend among influencers on social networks that are fundamentally visual and have global reach, such as TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, whose objective is to combat exacerbated consumerism from their respective media vantage points.

Young people like Kate Bartlett, Logan Rae Hill, Elysia Berman and Hannah Campbell are their champions. In just a few minutes, these entrepreneurs accumulate on their profiles an audience made up of more millions of people than those gathered by any traditional commercial chain. They make no effort to be credible: they do what they say and deliver what they advertise. They record it, edit it and respond to the comments sent to them.

In areas where brands compete relentlessly or ruthlessly, such as cosmetics or beauty, there can be errors in the planning of promotional campaigns and in subsequent gift sending. Thus, examples of prescribers with a light skin tone who are surprised because they have received a batch for dark-skinned clients, like Ava Lawrence, are common.

At the opposite extreme, there is a large group of African American 2.0 leaders who increasingly express their disappointment when they realize that the package that a company has sent them only includes material appropriate for white women: Toni Bravo, Golloria or Keeees. This is why it is so important that there are videos with influencers showing empty containers.

Until recently, the conventional approach was to open packages to disseminate this audiovisual material on YouTube, Instagram or Tiktok. The number of followers and views determined the success of the action and, with luck, what return the manufacturing and distribution companies would obtain after their investment. However, many of these products were resold or thrown away.

This outcome, which did not go unnoticed by the most astute viewers, has opened this new avenue, based on exploitation. It is the umpteenth demonstration of the speed at which the television industry and the digital business must adapt to the creativity of actors who do not submit to the dictates of any sector, but to their civic commitment.

Prescribers like Monica Ravichandran take advantage of their public appearances to distribute the items they will not use. Of course, in front of the cameras. For teenagers like Irene, a 15-year-old Catalan student who lives in Ohio (United States), behind these videos “there is a real awareness,” that is, it is not “simple posturing.” Precisely because the attitude of these authors is genuine, adds Irene, they enjoy “greater credibility” than the brands themselves. Massive prescribers like Meg DeAngelis also proclaim it without hesitation or qualms.