‘Influencers pay double’: Ice cream seller goes viral
A Los Angeles ice cream business that charges influencers double after its owner tired of being asked for freebies in return for ‘exposure’ has, ironically, gone viral (CTV News).
Key points:
- Owner of CVT Soft Serve Joe Nicchi was sick of being asked for freebies
- Final straw was being asked to cater for a 300-person event for nothing but ‘exposure’
- Nicchi created sign for vans saying ‘influencers pay double’, stating influencers must pay $8 instead of $4
- Posted on Instagram, picked up by Reddit, went viral – and sales doubled
- “The irony is not lost on me whatsoever. I’m basically getting exposure for bashing people that were promising me exposure” – Joe Nicchi
As kids grow up wishing to be influencers and flogging merch for brands becomes the pinnacle of ambition, perhaps the counterculture offensive has quietly begun. A small ice-cream business. One man who would not be cowed. For whom an influencer angling for a free $4 cone was asked "are you out of your mind?"
Meanwhile, as marketers look to unlock 'micro' and 'nano' influencers in the hope of wasting less money, and Instagram introduces a branded content feature, it could spawn a new wave of commercialisation as everyone is given the potential to become a walking billboard. But micro and nano-influencers be warned: You may end up paying double for an ice cream.
