The video likely resonated with viewers due to its relatable "storytime" format and the creator's honest, albeit negative, experience with a brand. The "shady" aspect and the ethical dilemma presented likely generated curiosity and engagement.
Summary
The creator shares an experience where a skincare brand asked her to lie in a promotional video by pretending to have used a product for months when she had only tried it for a day. She refused the campaign due to the unethical request, highlighting the importance of authenticity in influencer marketing.
Structure
1Introduction to the shady brand request
2Creator's initial positive experience with the brand
3The problematic request to lie about product usage
4Creator's refusal and explanation of why it's unethical
Original caption
Skincare and yap with me because I NEED to get this off my chest 😤 #storytime #skincare
More from @hydrationceo
More breakout videos from this creator.
5The brand's response and the creator's final decision
6Concluding thought on recognizing shady influencer content
Product placement
First Aid Beauty (skincare brand): ACTS - the creator uses their moisturizer and toner. Removing it would change what happens in the video. The brand is mentioned by name on the product packaging. The creator also mentions a "topical collagen cream" and a "blue spray bottle" which are products from unnamed brands. The creator also mentions "Botox" which is a medical treatment. The creator mentions "ice cream" which is a food item.
On-screen text
The SHADIEST thing a brand ever asked me to do 🤢
Transcript
There are a lot of brands out here who will just straight up ask you to lie in a video and influencers and you think are taking these deals. A couple months ago a brand I absolutely adore and I have never worked with before reached out to me and asked if I wanted to do a paid partnership and obviously I love their products so I said yeah, let's explore. So they sent me the product that they wanted me to try. I tested it for two weeks as I do and it just didn't end up working out for me. So I wrote back to them and I said, hey, so sorry, this product, I'm just not really into it. But I would still love to work with you, is there another product that you would want me to talk about? They said, yeah, we'll send you the new product. Here's the brief. And for those who don't know, the brief is just like what they want you to talk about in the video or like certain aspects about the product that they want you to highlight. So the product I wanted me to talk about was a topical collagen cream and I have no problem with that. Topical collagen is a great hydrator. But I read further down in the brief and they actually want me to show three or four empty bottles of moisturizer, aka they want me to squeeze the moisturizer out to pretend like I had been using this product for months. When I had one day to try it and it was just the audacity of a brand to ask me to just straight up lie. I had seen like a bunch of other creators do the same campaign and like I realized that they were all just doing what this brand had asked them to do, which was to pretend like they had been using this product for months. I ditched my contract. I sent them an email and they're like, oh my god, like we would never ask you to lie, blah blah blah. And I was like, it's literally in writing. So you know, if your spidey senses are tingling when you're watching a video and you feel like it's shady, shit is probably shady. So the product they wanted me to talk about was a topical collagen cream and I have no problem with that. Topical collagen is a great hydrator. But I read further down in the brief and they actually want me to show three or four empty bottles of moisturizer, aka they want me to squeeze the moisturizer out to pretend like I had been using this product for months. When I had one day to try it and it was just the audacity of a brand to ask me to just straight up lie. I had seen like a bunch of other creators do the same campaign and like I realized that they were all just doing what this brand had asked them to do, which was to pretend like they had been using this product for months. I ditched my contract. I sent them an email and they're like, oh my god, like we would never ask you to lie, blah blah blah. And I was like, it's literally in writing. So you know, if your spidey senses are tingling when you're watching a video and you feel like it's shady, shit is probably shady.
