🗣️ Gist📍 Street Gist
The day I exposed a fake brand deal and my fellow influencers turned on me
C
Cold Viper from Damaturu
3 months ago
Last year, I was still chasing the big brand deals and I finally got one. A popular Lagos fashion brand, let's call them 'StyleHub Lagos', reached out. They wanted me to promote their new collection. The money was good, I won't lie. 250k for a few posts, plus a free outfit.I was so excited. I even told my sister, we celebrated with jollof and chicken. I signed the contract, did the content, posted it. The engagement was crazy. I started getting messages from other brands, asking for my rate card.Then I noticed something off. The comments on my sponsored posts were all the same accounts. Same profile pictures, same generic comments like 'love this!' and 'so inspiring!'. I did my research, and I found out the brand was using fake engagement bots to boost their influencer campaigns. They were scamming other creators into working for free, promising exposure that never came.I was furious. I confronted them, and they denied everything. So I posted about it. I shared screenshots, the whole evidence. The backlash was instant. Other influencers called me a 'hater' and said I was 'ruining the industry'. The brand dropped me, and I lost the 250k.It hurt. But I learned something. Your integrity is worth more than any deal. Now I check every brand's engagement metrics before I work with them. And I sleep well at night. 💅
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