Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Halley Kate TikTok haul backlash, Sydney Sweeney claps back at body shamers + new YT recommendation

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MINI SCROLL: Halley Kate TikTok haul backlash, Sydney Sweeney claps back at body shamers + new YT recommendation · Mini Scroll

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  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
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  through Thursday. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner,
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  the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World.
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  Welcome back to Mini Scroll, everyone.
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  Let's just get straight into the stories for today.
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  I don't have any updates for you guys except we are trying to
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  still get to 500 Spotify by star reviews by the end of the year.
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  So please Spotify star rate US. OK?
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  The first story that I have for you guys today is that Hallie
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  Kate has been called out for returning clothing from a former
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  Abercrombie Hall. So this TikTok is starting to go
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  viral. I would say it's not quite there
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  yet but it is almost viral. So a user named Ashley posted
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  two photos yesterday to TikTok of influencer Hallie Kate
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  walking into Abercrombie and seemingly returning clothing.
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  The writing over the photos reads quote never forget.
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  When I saw Hallie Kate returning all of the clothes she had just
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  posted a haul with the caption on the video says I just
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  remembered I had these pics from 2022 and she tagged Hallie.
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  So this video has racked up over 600,000 views in just a few
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  hours and Hallie saw the video. I mean she was tagged, she saw
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  the video and she commented, she wrote.
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  This is honestly bizarre to just take unsolicited photos of me
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  from years ago and post them trying to make it seem like
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  something it's not. I didn't try anything on.
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  So yeah, I returned stuff that didn't fit.
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  And then the creator wrote back, wait, girl, it's not that deep.
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  And then Hallie wrote you followed me and took photos of
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  me and now are posting it telling me it's not deep.
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  Yeah, that's weird. I'm sorry.
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  The creator says she was going into Abercrombie two.
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  She didn't follow Hallie regardless, I actually agree
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  with Hallie here. I think this video was obviously
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  made to be controversial and shady.
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  It was made to get views. And when Hallie defends herself
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  to be like, it's not that deep. That's just like such a cop out.
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  I think either own your shadiness, like own what you
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  were trying to do here or don't do it.
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  There's also a big difference between having somebody who's
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  like present in the back of your photos, you know, like if I
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  don't know, like if I or to post something on Instagram and you
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  could see people's faces in the background, that's very
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  different than posting something that is like specifically
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  targeted at a certain subject, whether they're an influencer or
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  not. Taking videos and photos of
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  people in public, like, I don't know when that became so OK.
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  And posting it for the Internet to dissect, I think is that's
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  like everyone's worst nightmare. Like, is that not your worst
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  nightmare? That's literally my worst
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  nightmare. OK so this user followed up with
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  a video being kind of even more shady.
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  So she responded to Halley's comment in a video format as
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  well. It's just a screenshot of her
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  notes app and the notes app says I'm sorry posted the vid for
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  attention lol sorry. Hope we can move on and become
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  friends. And then she put the song I love
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  you, I'm sorry from Gracie Abrams like it was this is
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  obviously a troll. OK, so aside from like the
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  ethics around this user posting this and like what she was
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  clearly trying to do to Hallie and then I don't want like gas
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  lights. Absolutely not the right word.
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  But like flip it back on Hallie to be like, it's not that deep.
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  Like aside from all of that, I think there are a few things
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  going on here. So first, I have said this
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  before, but Hallie Kate is one of the most talked about tick
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  talkers on Reddit. I know that's a huge call, but
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  I'm going to say that's true. She annoys people on the
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  Internet more than like anyone I have possibly ever seen.
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  I think she does represent what a lot of influencers claim to
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  be, but usually are actually not, which is she came from
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  quite like humble beginnings and she just started posting and all
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  of a sudden has this like thriving influencer career with
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  all this money. It is like the quote UN quote,
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  like American dream of becoming an influencer.
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  I think a lot of influencers claim that that was their start,
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  that's their story. But we do find out later that a
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  lot of them come from like massive wealth, which is why
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  they can afford to be like a lifestyle influencer.
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  But Halle, as far as I know about her back story, did not
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  come from that type of upbringing.
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  So I think sometimes it can be hard for us to grapple with the
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  fact that like, that could have been us, you know, like you can,
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  you can really see yourself in Hallie, like, I don't know, I
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  can. And I'm like 10 years older than
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  her probably. You know, she is an incredibly
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  relatable person because of the story of her career.
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  But I also think on the flip side, Hallie represents this
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  cohort of influencers that push extreme overconsumption to their
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  audience. Lots of people don't think these
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  influencers add any value. They think they do more harm
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  than good. And I think because of alleys
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  humble beginnings and the story of her career, it feels almost
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  ickier to people. So I think people maybe feel a
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  little bit betrayed from influencers who come from more
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  like quote UN quote like relatable beginnings.
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  And then it feels like they turn.
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  Now when it comes to this particular video and scenario,
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  it's had me thinking a lot about like the future of influencer
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  marketing because obviously this hall is from a while ago and I
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  couldn't find it right? Like she posts like multiple
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  sometimes a day sometimes, and it's from almost three years
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  ago. So I wasn't going to be able to
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  find this video, but it's clear that either she was sent these
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  clothes, I'm going to assume she was either sent these clothes,
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  NPR by Abercrombie or she was doing a sponsorship with them.
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  Either way, it doesn't seem like she like tried to close on
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  picked them herself, right? So the reaction to this video,
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  like the general audience reaction, has me thinking about
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  that kind of ongoing question, like where does influencer
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  marketing go from here? Because there's no denying that
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  audiences have lost a lot of trust in influencer marketing
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  and that it's not as effective as before.
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  Now, that doesn't mean it's not effective at all.
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  I know that's also like a talking point that people throw
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  around, but that's just not true.
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  The data does not support that. Influencer marketing is still
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  very effective. It is just less effective than
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  it used to be. So things do need to change.
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  I would say in the fairly, you know, immediate future, if
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  brands want influencer marketing to continue to be effective.
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  I know a lot of consumers wouldn't really care if
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  influencer marketing went away or they think they wouldn't care
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  if influencer marketing went away.
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  But of course, brands would feel quite differently.
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  So I think the reaction to this video is a strong argument for
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  the shift away from asking influencers to promote products
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  as if they love and use them. We've seen a lot more interest
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  in kind of like in your face advertising over the last couple
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  of years. And it feels a bit conflicting
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  or like contradicting given that we know that Gen.
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  Z are the generation most adverse to advertising.
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  But they are also more likely to receive a very obvious
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  advertisement better than one that is like hidden behind an
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  influencer pretending to be their friend.
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  We actually saw another example of this recently.
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  So there was this video gaining traction on TikTok, and I don't
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  have the name of it, like of the creator, I'm really sorry, but
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  the creator who is saying in this video that they think
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  visual print advertising is going to make a big comeback
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  soon because we appreciate the beauty and visual storytelling,
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  the creativity. And now so many of the ads that
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  young people are exposed to are just on social media.
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  And they don't have that same or like artistic feel that print
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  advertising or advertising in general used to have before
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  influencer advertising. Because now it's all just
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  influencers being sent products. It's so incredibly low effort
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  and the influencers are just like holding up the product
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  product and using it. It's not that kind of like
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  visual storytelling art piece that so many of us grew up with,
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  right, in commercials or print advertising or whatever.
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  So, well, I don't know if print advertising will actually make a
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  comeback. I think what all of this signals
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  to is that people just want an ad to be an ad.
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  At this point, I think give us something that is transparently
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  an ad and we will receive it better.
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  There is scope for brands to use influencers and brief in
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  influencers more transactionally like they would media or like
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  podcasters or I don't know, outdoor advertising like
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  whatever it is, right? Like I think so often
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  influencers are briefed in to say like they love this product
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  and like treat the audience like their friend.
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  And sometimes that works and we have seen that work for years
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  and years and years. But I think what we're starting
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  to see is this shift away because people don't trust
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  influencers and they can see through the like facade of them
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  trying to be their friend. People don't believe actually
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  spoke about about this recently in a deep dive, I think it was.
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  But there's this new like research that's come out that a
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  very large percentage of people when they see an influencer
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  promote a product, they don't even believe that that
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  influencer has tried the product, let alone like can
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  speak to it, right. So I think there's such an
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  erosion of trust in influencer marketing right now.
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  And I think some transparency would do that industry good.
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  You know, like when a brand advertises on a podcast, there's
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  no confusion that it's an ad. It's like support for infinite
• 9:36
  scroll is brought to you by X. It's like a commercial.
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  And then you go into the brand, what they do, you might throw in
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  something personal, like, oh, I love this mascara or whatever.
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  But at the end of the day, the audience is under no illusion
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  that the podcaster and the brand are trying to, like, trick you
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  into thinking that this is like an authentic review.
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  It's really just like, does this product align with the audience
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  that this podcaster has? Yes.
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  No. OK, let's do an ad.
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  Let's get, you know, the brand's name in the podcast.
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  And like with Gen. Z, it is a bit complex because
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  they are too savvy and they have been too overexposed to all of
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  this. They have parasocial
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  relationships with certain comfort creators that they love,
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  but they also hate feeling patronized and they just like
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  know too much. So there has to be a shift.
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  This is the perfect example for me to talk about this shift that
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  I think needs to happen. So from a brand perspective, I
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  think it is like finding that balance between how you navigate
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  the future of influencer marketing when nobody trusts
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  influencers or very few people trust influencers anymore when
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  they're doing paid ads. That's not that.
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  That's not to say that people don't trust influencers and
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  their recommendations, but but when it comes to a paid
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  partnership, people just immediately are like, everything
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  they're saying is not true. And then I think from a consumer
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  perspective, it's also us understanding that influencers
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  are not our friends. They get sent stuff all the time
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  that they could not possibly use, that they are obviously
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  giving away. You know, they do paid ads all
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  the time for things that they might not necessarily like love.
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  But at the end of the day, like we as consumers also have a
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  responsibility to realize at this point, this many years in
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  that influencer marketing is a type of advertising.
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  The same way that when we watch a commercial, we recognize that
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  that brand has paid for that commercial to run on that TV
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  show. Similar thing.
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  It's like we need to look at influencers as like billboards.
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  I know that is incredibly reductive, but I think if we can
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  take that lens when we are watching advertisements from
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  influencers, that will just like be a better experience for us as
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  viewers, as consumers. It won't make us so upset and
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  angry. And it will also, you know, be a
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  better experience. I don't I don't know if a lot of
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  people care if influencers have a good experience online, but it
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  will be a better experience for the industry as a whole.
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  And then going back to the overconsumption point, the way
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  that these TikTok girls are talked about online is giving me
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  flashbacks to how we all started to talk about the 2010's beauty
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  gurus and like their overconsumption, the lifestyle
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  TikTok girlies are just like the new generation of that beauty
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  gurus got so much Flack for encouraging overconsumption, and
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  that eventually eroded trust in like the entire corner of that
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  Internet. And it really swung the pendulum
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  the other way from audiences wanting like giant makeup
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  collections to audiences thinking that giant makeup
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  collections are gross. So I think that's also something
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  for brands to keep in mind is this massive influx of
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  influencer marketing, this like, push of overconsumption.
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  It's not just going to hurt the influencers, but it's also going
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  to hurt the brands who are trying to use these influencers
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  as vehicles. Like not just from a reputation
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  perspective, but also just like culturally, people are going to
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  shift away. I think there's a lot of lessons
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  that we can take from earlier platforms like YouTube, even
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  like OG blogging, Pinterest, Instagram, that we can apply to
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  like this new generation of creators, especially who are on
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  TikTok, if we don't want this bubble to burst.
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  And I think most of us that listen to this podcast wouldn't
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  want that bubble to burst. I don't think most people
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  actually want the bubble to burst.
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  I think they just think they want the bubble to burst.
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  OK, the next story that I have for you guys is that Sydney
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  Sweeney has hit back at body shamers in a new Instagram post.
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  This is savage and it's amazing. And I love that this is done by
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  an A list celebrity. So last week, photos of Sydney
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  Sweeney sunbathing in a bikini circulated, published, I think
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  it was by the Daily Mail initially or the Daily
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  Telegraph. And these photos elicited very
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  misogynistic and hateful comments about her body.
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  So Sydney has been training as she is portraying boxer Christy
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  Martin in a biopic. So her body is looking, I guess,
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  different to what people expected to see.
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  And I mean, we've seen her in a bikini before.
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  She's just looking very like muscular, you know, because
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  she's training to be in this biopic about a boxer.
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  The comments under the photos of her in this bikini.
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  So like under the article, we're just like so horrible.
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  It's just like men calling her mid frumpy, a butter face, just
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  being so disgusting about how muscular she's looking.
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  We've heard men call Sydney Sweeney mid before.
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  We've also heard them call Margot Robbie mid.
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  This is like this is what they love to do.
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  They hate to see a woman on top, a woman they would never get in
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  1000 million trillion years, a woman who is so beautiful, who
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  is wealthy on her own, who is incredibly successful and also
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  who is not for the male gaze. While Sidney Sweeney is so male
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  gaze coded for this particular role and how she's like quote UN
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  quote like changing her looks for it.
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  This is not related to the male gaze at all.
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  This is not for them. And I think with Barbie, even
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  though that was the the point was like the male gaze, right?
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  That was kind of like the point of the movie.
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  And then Margot or like Barbie moves away from male the male
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  gaze and like realizes the movie was not for them.
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  And they did not like that. They did not like that it
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  criticized the patriarchy, that it made women celebrate
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  womanhood outside of the patriarchy.
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  And so immediately it was like, look at Margot Robbie.
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  She's actually mid Margot Robbie who played literal Barbie like
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  the hottest woman in the entire world, Sydney Sweeney, who you
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  could argue is also one of the hottest women in the entire
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  world too. Just because she is doing
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  something that is not for you. They're just like butter face
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  mid Disgusting. OK, anyways, so Sydney clapped
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  back in the best way. She posted on Instagram today
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  just like this rolling video of the comments including these
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  men's full usernames or even some of them.
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  They're full government names if they use their names to comment
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  on it. And it's honestly the best clap
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  back that she put all of these disgusting men on blast.
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  And I know we've talked occasionally about like when
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  influencers put people's DMS on blast and don't cover up their
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  usernames or don't cover up their handles or their names or
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  whatever. And like, I don't know how I
• 16:30
  feel about that. But for some reason, this I'm
• 16:32
  like, good, go for it. Let's do more of this, OK?
• 16:38
  And the last thing I wanted to talk to you guys about, it's not
• 16:40
  really a story, but I wanted to share with you this like YouTube
• 16:46
  video and channel that I think you guys, especially if you like
• 16:50
  the deep dives on Friday, will really love.
• 16:52
  And I'm sure a lot of you guys already know about it, but I
• 16:54
  wanted to shout out the YouTube channel Under Stitch and their
• 16:59
  sister channel Under Skin. I've been following them since
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  they started a few years ago and they have found some traction.
• 17:05
  Like I said, I think each channel has maybe at least their
• 17:08
  fashion channel has over 100,000 subscribers.
• 17:10
  But Under Stitch is the fashion channel where they breakdown and
• 17:14
  dissect like the history and the business side of different
• 17:18
  fashion brands. And then Under Skin is the
• 17:21
  beauty side of it. So they look into like the
• 17:23
  business and history of beauty brands.
• 17:25
  Their content is amazing. They deserve well over a million
• 17:29
  subscribers. Like I love their content so
• 17:31
  much. And the reason why I wanted to
• 17:33
  specifically shout them out today is because over the
• 17:35
  weekend they published a comprehensive history of the
• 17:38
  fashion brand Lueve. It's over 2 1/2 hours long and
• 17:42
  the level of research that went into this is astounding.
• 17:47
  The brand actually has very limited documented history.
• 17:50
  There are no books on the history of Lueve apparently.
• 17:54
  And to make this video, which the creator claims is the most
• 17:57
  comprehensive retelling of the history of the brand ever
• 18:00
  written, which I do believe the creator interviewed tons of
• 18:04
  people in fashion, people within the brand researchers like it is
• 18:09
  so in depth. Their content is always
• 18:11
  impressive but like this particular video is so
• 18:13
  impressive and like I said, if you guys like our deep dives and
• 18:18
  you guys will miss us miss me over the break, then definitely
• 18:21
  check out this channel. I think it will scratch that
• 18:24
  itch for you. Times 1000.
• 18:26
  This is not sponsored. I have no idea who is behind
• 18:28
  these channels. I just love these channels and
• 18:31
  that video was so impressive to me and I was like I need to tell
• 18:34
  everyone about this video and it only has 11,000 views so go
• 18:38
  watch it. OK guys that's it for mini
• 18:41
  scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
• 18:44
  I love you guys. Please rate review and
• 18:46
  subscribe. Please star rate US on Spotify.
• 18:49
  I love you guys and I will talk to you tomorrow.
• 18:52
  Bye.