At some point in the evolution of Instagram, it became a free-for-all of unregulated scammy advertising. Young girls and bots around the world started selling diet shakes, weight loss teas, and special supplements that promise miraculous weight loss results. Whenever I see these girls trying to sell these garbage products they don’t even use to unsuspecting and impressionable young girls, it infuriates me. It’s a really gross behavior.
Turns out Charlotte Rollin, a 20-year-old fashion communication and promotion student from the U.K. felt the same way. She grew tired of the countless emails from one specific company asking her to become a brand ambassador for these products (they approach all ‘influencers’ as long as they have a certain number of followers) and decided to call them out on Twitter.
After “The Choco Diet” asked Rollin three times if she would be a part of their Instagram campaign, she replied with a powerful message:
an Instagram diet shake company literally wouldn’t stop emailing me about a potential ‘’collaboration’’ and so after at first ignoring them, I decided to tell them what I actually thought ?? pic.twitter.com/OKEKLirAEU
— char (@_charl0ttesweb) November 19, 2017
It reads, in full:
“I had hoped the absence of my response would prevent you from contacting me again, however seeing as you have now emailed me three times regarding this ‘collaboration’, I feel a need to reply and hopefully prevent further correspondence.”
Charlotte mentioned her own personal struggles with anorexia, and how living with that disease for so long means she would never promote an unhealthy way to lose weight to other young girls.
“It is quite apparent to me that you have not taken the time to look at my previous social media posts or even have an idea of the type of the content I create, as if you had, you would most likely be aware that I in fact have suffered with anorexia for the past 5 years.
“I therefore would, under no circumstances, even consider promoting a diet or detox drink on my social channels, which many follow as they also suffer from mental health issues and use as a reassurance that they are not alone in these struggles.
“I find the nature of your product to be damaging, and I know for a fact that these shakes are not a healthy way to lose weight, even for those that have a genuine, non-disordered desire to do so.”
She then calls the company out for being super shady:
“Moreover, it is very suspicious to me that you have over 10,000 followers, yet most of your Instagram posts have less than 20 likes. This is a clear indicator to me that your business and following is not a legitimate one.”
This is what ‘The Choco Diet’ looks like:
Charlotte’s tweet gained steam on Twitter, and other women began sharing that they’d been approached by the same company.
Omg this company was harassing me too! I sent a very very similar email. It's so dodgy how the ingredients are hidden in the FQA section on their website & they've definitely got fake reviews on there too.
— stephanie spook (@fffigs) November 20, 2017
I was contacted by the same person multiple times (I ignored her emails too!) – I ended up telling them where to go ??
— Lucy Elizabeth ?? (@lucyeliz_x) November 20, 2017
I ignored them to start with but she literally wouldn’t stop and her follow ups were getting more and more aggressive ?? deffo not the right way to approach a potential collaborator! so glad I’m not the only one telling them how it is ??
— char (@_charl0ttesweb) November 20, 2017
I’m glad it wasn’t just me! That’s the second miracle diet company that has contacted me and it literally makes me feel sick knowing that influencers say yes to promoting these products! ???
— Beth♡ (@bethxjames) November 21, 2017
Just as a general rule of thumb: The only sure and healthy way to lose weight is to change your attitude and lifestyle! Nothing replaces healthy dieting and exercise.
h/t Mashable