I have been coming across some Filipino "financial experts" on Tiktok - emphasis on the air quotes please. My first reaction was that they are trying too hard to be persuasive and they are so into their delusion that they're already comical...so I was incredibly surprised when I read the comments and indeed there are people who believed them. Don't even get me started on their believers on Facebook.
This got me thinking and reminded me of all the lies that I have seen Filipino influencers have paraded around social media recently.
I thought I'd share them with you today. Some might deserve to be discussed in more detail and I'm hoping to get around that one of these days. I do strive to keep positivity in this blog, but I also highly value honesty and it has bothered me how some people with extremely large platforms are just leveraging their influence on the wrong side of the road.
Very important: I will not be naming any influencer and I urge you to also keep your guesses private. This is for educational and awareness purposes. GIFs used in this post are for visuals and not the ones referred by the headings.
In this post:
- Excessive wealth and lifestyle
- Get rich quick!
- Poverty corn (replace *c with *p)
- Extreme and unrealistic fitness journeys
- Child explo!tat!on
- Undisclosed sponsorships and fake reviews
- Fake scenarios
Excessive wealth and lifestyle
Fridge restocking videos most probably have gained popularity during the pandemic and boy oh boy, it did not stop there. Those fridge restock videos are not necessarily problematic as long as you, the viewer, keep in mind that there is a very high chance (probably 95%) chance that those are not what their real fridge looks like especially for families. You and I know what a real home fridge looks like and it’s almost always geared for practicality and not the aesthetics.
Moving on…
One does not talk about the display of excess wealth and lifestyle without the obvious rise of the flaunting of luxury life and designer items and unboxing. The question that always pops in my head whenever I see those videos is...
“Wow that person is soooo rich, I wonder what she does for a living.”
At times it would be from influencers who are from prominent and old maybe even nouveau rich families which makes the question easier to answer, but the thing is…there are some names I haven’t even heard of before. Even if I Googled them, all I got were pure speculations from chismis forums. Some do have businesses with mediocre or even lesser known products that they claim to have sky-high sales surpassing the major corporations in the country. A more logical source of income would be the money they get from being an influencer, but even those (I think) are not enough to support the very lavish lifestyles they live.
So...why do they do this?
The influencers themselves would be the only ones who know the real reason though it wouldn't hurt to speculate. It could be that they are trying to portray a lavish lifestyle so people would get hooked into signing up into reselling their products or being part of whatever network they're trying to build - a tactic that old school networkers or MLMs have been using for decades. It's the idea of "I bough all these with the money I earn from this and that and you can too, if you do the same thing".
Or it could also be just to brag. They just get some adrenaline on being praised and looked up for all the material things they possess. And they're willing to live beyond their means and/or in debt just to get ahead of the rest.
And there are also all the very shady conspiracies of their source of wealth which I won't get into.
The very important takeaway is not to easily fall for the fake lifestyle that other influencers portray. Don't beat yourself up for not having what they have because a lot of those are not real or they're maybe going broke just trying to look rich.
Get rich quick!
It is but a common thing to do that when we have the money, one of the first things we try to improve on is how we look. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just human nature.
I am not even talking about extravagance by the first look. Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg always are in casual attire and they're not haggard. They still look respectable. If you have seen the Class of Palm Beach Tiktoks you'll see that there are actual billionaires who don't dress loudly but are obviously very classy. Here's one of their Tiktok videos to prove my point:
@classofpalmbeach #classywomen #classyvision #classy #palmbeach #palmbeachcounty #palmbeachisland #italia #italy #tiffanyandco #cartier #pictureperfect #dogmodel #luxurylifestyle #luxuryhomes #ralphlaurenhome #ralphlaurenstyle #beautifulwomen #oldmoney #oldmoneystyle #oldmoneyaesthetic #explorepage #viral #vanityfair #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound - Class of Palm Beach
I'm sorry if it's taking me a while to get to the point but I have one.
Anyway, going back, the reason why I had to specifically point that out is because a lot (if not all) of the fake and lying financial experts cannot even get the physical aspect together. On top of that, they also flex businesses that are either fake or too low level that it's impossible they generate millions in income.
They try to sell wealth when in fact, they might actually need it more.
For your quick and easy reference, I've prepped up this starter guide that the fake financial expert influencers often use:
- Your education is only training you to be a slave.
- The reason why you're poor is because you don't have a business.
- Quit your studies, watch my online course instead.
- The money you're paying for tuition should just be invested in my company's (guess what) financial training.
- Need more money? Recruit your friends!
Poverty corn (replace *c with *p)
Poverty corn is a lie many people choose to overlook because they think the influencer has the genuine concern. And we'll get to why I am pretty sure it's all fake.
Over the past few years, Filipino influencers have gotten pretty creative about their exploitation of their fellowmen's struggles and poverty. The most common would be "rich" influencers dressing up and cosplaying as poor people, taking videos and posting them online for millions of people to see. Another would also involve cosplaying for the sole reason of wanting to "experience what poor life is like" - this disgusts me to my core honestly. Other less common would be pranking minimum or below minimum wage workers in exchange for small rewards.
I know you might think that it's a good thing anyway because they do end up giving away stuff and money to those who are in obvious need for it. You may also think that it might help raise awareness and encourage other people to donate.
Well, if it's a genuine act of charity...why is it recorded, edited and uploaded for all the world to see? Most importantly - why is the video monetised?
Because strip the act of its facade, all we'll see is a devilish and selfish intent for no one's gain but the influencer.
Such act may be seen as kindness and may only be done to make the influencer look kind. It might give the influencer the positive publicity that he/she has always been craving after doing some real BS or maybe as a safety net reputation in case they do mess up in the future. Most times, it's to cover a scandal or to deflect from the rumours that the influencer is not a good person after all.
There are other ways to help people without exploiting the part of their lives they are most likely insecure about.
Extreme and unrealistic fitness journeys
Society has broken how many women view of their own body so the last thing we need right now are influencers revealing their amazing bodies after a few weeks of working out...with the help of some diet coffee or smoothie they're trying to shove down your throat.
The false fitness journeys that the influencers try to fool us with is extremely harmful not only for its psychological effects to women in the country, but influencers also promote unrealistic fitness expectations, unhealthy relationship with food, eating disorders, possibly harmful supplements, etc.
They don't even have an ounce of conscience to admit if they've gone under the knife or have taken prescription medications just to help speed up the weight loss.
I really appreciate industry experts like Jo Sebastian (channel linked below) who debunk misconceptions of weight loss journeys, diets and wellness in general. I highly suggest you follow Jo if you want medically accurate information on nutrition.
Child explo!tat!on
I'm not an angel. I have followed a handful of family channels before and in the past, I really did find it fascinating seeing the family and the children grow up. However, when I read about and saw the horrors that those children go through behind the scenes, I came to a complete halt and never looked back.
The lie, I believe, is when parents or the adults in those childrens lives try very hard to portray a happy family, healthy parenting at the expense of the children's private and intimate moments. Everything is just out there for the general public to see. There are even those who go as far as recruiting sponsorships even before the child is born or organising meet and greets with their minor children.
The lie is when they pretend they're good parents, when they're actually milking their childrens' youth for higher views and monetisation.
Children cannot consent and even if the parents say "oh they just love the camera", it does not actually mean the recorded clips should be publicised. It's a parents' job to make sure the pave the way for their children's future without using the child as a shovel for it.
I honestly don't think there's any reason that can warrant a child getting exploited online.
The internet is not a safe and child-friendly place no matter what anybody else say.
I know I don't have a child of my own yet, but as a human being who was a child once I have the right to say this:
If you fail to protect your child from getting exploited online or you're the one exploiting your very own child, you are a failure as a parent. I'm not even sorry I said that.
Undisclosed sponsorships and fake reviews
In the topic of undisclosed sponsorships, there is a little bit of a gray area because in the Philippines, we have no laws or regulations defining what the influencers' responsibilities are when it comes to disclosing their sponsorships unlike in countries like the UK or the US, they already have set regulations. So here, if the influencer's stand is that they don't disclose because they legally do not have to, they're actually not in the wrong.
However, the thing we can hold on to here is ethics.
How many times have you seen celebrity or influencer vlogs with very obvious product placements but the influencer is pretending it's something just part of their everyday life? Like they have that box of creamer just lying out there in their counter standing out?
There's also more local influencers, particularly in the food and travel space, showing off a restaurant's new menu or a room tour at a hotel and we as consumers cannot tell if they're telling us their honest thoughts or if it's a PR script.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with sponsorships.
Let me just make that clear.
The influencers lie when they try to film an ad or a sponsored post and structuring it like a regular review or experience vlog when the truth is they have been paid to feature the business. For example, there are food/restaurant vlog influencers who seemed to like every single new restaurant in the city. It's very suspicious and the general public's review of the restaurants being mediocre or bad in real life would be proof that they're not telling the truth.
My best guess is that videos that are structured casually or just like other regular reviews, people respond to those more positively than obvious advertisements. It's less invasive and kinda looks more authentic. As consumers, we just have to be mindful of what content we consume and to take it upon ourselves to go the extra step and research for reviews from the general public or the non-influencers.
Fake scenarios
As a society we really do love some good juicy drama which may be the main reason why some influencers stir up one when they're losing the spotlight and there are also some who regularly create drama in their daily vlogs. They like to convince people that their lives are just like those TLC reality shows...but worse.
I don't know how the influencers and some of their audience think it's normal that when two people fight in a household, there is an instinct to get a camera and record it.
How, after a hundred pranks prior, they still are not able to detect when something is off in a situation and it may just be another prank?
The answer is (surprise, surprise) that it's most likely fake and scripted.
Regular life is usually boring and those influencers know that. Or maybe their actual normal personalities are also very boring. They have to constantly think of rifts and film those to generate intensity in their content.
These are the types of content that we have to avoid forming parasocial relationships with. If they fight, let them fight - we're not a part of it and at the end of the day after they hit record, all might be well with them.
I hope this somehow helps you decide whether or not it's worth believing an influencer you've been doubtful for a while now.
Parasocial relationships are harmful because the influencers and celebrities leverage that so you would spend more and more of your money and trust on their products or the products they promote.
Always be mindful online.
Stay safe!
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