The wind has already arrived once again during this month of September. We have started the new course and this year, yes, we have committed ourselves to fulfilling many desires and objectives. The new desires have joined the old desires and have become a list of “what needs to be done” as expensive as infinity. It's no coincidence, because there's a giant, hidden machine that makes that list longer and longer.
Influencer advertising starts, leaving behind the photographs of paradisical tourist destinations: they say that the vacuum cleaner without sound is “the best investment for home”, that these state-of-the-art sports shoes are essential to avoid injuries, and that a brand of yogurt like this is more ecofriendly and therefore healthier, among other things. Companies are aware that the most effective way to sell their products is to “generate desires” to the public through influencers, and that is why those who have more than 50,000 fans pay on average between 1,000 and 2,000 euros per publication.
97% of Instagram influencers, TikTok, YouTube etc. They post messages with commercial content, but only 20 percent consistently state that they're advertising. In other words, four out of five advertise covertly, according to data published by the European Commission in February 2024. The study, in which 23 European states participated, analysed the publications of the 576 influencers of the main social networks in the EU. The conclusion was expected: most do not comply with the consumer protection law. Moreover, 40% of the influencers analyzed are selling their own brands through the loudspeaker given by social networks, and 60% do not mention that they are advertising. There are governments that are trying to adapt the new measures, but today it is very unusual that these billionaire influencers receive sanctions for breaches of consumer rights.
It should be borne in mind that this covert advertising is linked to fashion, lifestyle, beauty canon, food, travel and physical exercise and sport. The power of influencers is not wasted and their influence on the youngest has become evident in recent years: the number of young people between 16 and 25 years old who have undergone aesthetic treatments has grown by between 14 and 20%, according to the latest report of the Spanish Society of Aesthetic Medicine (SEME). Women represent 69% of the cases, but the demand of men is also on the rise, as they represent 31%, according to the SON.
More and more influencers defend the mantra “self is free to choose what to do with your life and body” and the algorithm – the owners of social networks – rewards that liberal discourse. By reviewing the list of course objectives, we can do the exercise: Why do we have those desires this year? Where have they come from?
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