Latest / Mini Scroll / Alexandra Leclerc DMs brand for free clothes | Catherine Ebs grocery update + Jack & Margaret split

Transcript

Alexandra Leclerc DMs brand for free clothes | Catherine Ebs grocery update + Jack & Margaret split · Mini Scroll

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  Coming up today on Mini Scroll, an Aussie brand accidentally
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  outs an influencer for asking for free clothing tops.
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  Grocery store claps back at Katherine Ebbs and Margaret
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  Quali and Jack Antonov split. Hi everyone.
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  Welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet culture podcast
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  bringing you the biggest stories from social media, the creator
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  economy and the digital space. Every Monday through Thursday
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  and sometimes Fridays. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner,
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  the founder of the Australian youth digital media brand
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  Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Scroll,
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  everyone. All right, I don't think I have
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  any updates for you guys, but as always, Please remember to rate,
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  review and subscribe. It helps us so much.
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  keep going. So please Spotify star rate US,
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  All right, let's just get into the stories for today.
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  So the first story that I have for you guys today is runaway.
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  The label has accidentally exposed the wife of an F1
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  driver. So runaway.
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  The label is a Sydney based brand that is definitely one of
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  those like trendy cute Australian online stores.
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  I think I have followed them for years, probably being based in
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  Sydney. They sell anything from wedding
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  guest dresses to loungewear to matching sets.
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  The label also has a pretty sizeable following.
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  They have over 730,000 followers on Instagram and 81,000 on
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  Tiktok. So earlier this week, the
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  brand's social team posted a clip to Tiktok and it was them
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  being excited that they had received Adm from Alexandra
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  Leclerc. So Alexandra, if you don't know,
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  is married to Charles Leclerc, who is a famous F1 driver.
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  And F1 is definitely out of my wheelhouse, OK?
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  I do not watch Drive to Survive. I know I should.
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  I know everybody's obsessed with it.
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  My husband's obsessed with F1 too.
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  But it's kind of outside of my wheelhouse.
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  So stick with me. But Charles has been in the
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  sport sense, 2019, and he currently competes for Ferrari.
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  The pair reportedly met in 2023 and got engaged at the end of
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  2025 and they got married in February of this year.
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  So Alexandra is obviously well known because of her marriage,
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  but she is also a popular fashion and lifestyle creator.
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  She has almost 5 million followers on Instagram.
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  So of course it's great publicity when she wears
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  anyone's clothing uses anyone's product.
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  So that makes sense as to why runaway the label, why they were
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  so excited by this DM that they got from her.
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  And it's not just her following. Like as somebody who doesn't
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  follow F1, I still like knew who she was, right?
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  Like she's still very like culturally relevant.
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  She's part of the zeitgeist right now.
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  So it makes sense like she has a lot of clout, like even outside
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  of having just like a big following.
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  OK so in the TikTok you could see Alexandra's DM to run away
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  the label. She had sent a reel of one of
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  their dresses and wrote hi, I was looking at outfits for my
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  upcoming summer trips and I was wondering if you would be
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  interested in sending me this blue set.
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  It's so cute. And then the girls that work at
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  the label, they were all so excited.
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  In the video, six of them were drafting a response together
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  that is so relatable and they ended up responding.
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  Anything you want. Please let us know if you would
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  like any other pieces along with your shipping details and we can
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  get it out to you ASAP. We love you so much.
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  Runaway the label posted this not to like expose her for
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  asking for free clothes, like they were showing the behind the
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  scenes of getting Adm from like this huge personality and like
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  how they were so excited about this.
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  However, social media users did not see it in such a positive
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  light. So many people are in disbelief
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  that Alexandra would ask for a free dress, pointing to the fact
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  that her husband is a multimillionaire.
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  One Reddit user wrote quote They just moved into a luxurious
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  newly built apartment and recently got a brand new custom
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  yacht. Gifted items are a reality of
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  influencer marketing, but the CM comes off in poor taste,
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  especially because the set she's asking for is under $200.
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  A user on X wrote. I don't really care for Wags,
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  but this girl has millions of dollars sitting in her bank
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  account. If she really wanted the
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  clothes, she could just buy it herself instead of exploiting
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  her fame to get free handouts from small businesses.
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  OK, so amid the mounting backlash Runaway, the label
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  actually ended up taking down the TikTok to protect Alexandra.
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  According to social media users, the brand did respond to slash
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  like some comments clarifying that Alexandra asked them to
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  send the dress because it was sold out online.
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  So obviously the video has been deleted so we can't see if they
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  did or did not like these comments.
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  However, we had a look at their website run away the label while
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  researching and the clothing in question seems to be the agenta
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  ruched waist back sea skirt seafoam and the agenta scoop
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  halter bodysuit in seafoam. And when we looked, all of the
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  sizes were in stock except for extra, extra small and extra
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  small. So I'm assuming she's like an
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  extra small and that that is possibly the reason why she DMS
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  them this in saying that, there's also a lot of people
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  coming forward saying like this unfortunately is just like
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  common practice in the creator economy.
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  Obviously, the bigger question here is like, should it be?
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  But at the end of the day, is that bigger question, answering
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  that bigger question, is it going to change how the industry
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  operates? Probably not.
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  I wouldn't pay for anything if I didn't have to and neither would
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  you. I feel like people just want
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  excuses to hate rich and successful influences.
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  Which fair enough, but in this instance Alexandra the clerk on
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  this dress. I don't get what people are so
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  outraged by. We already know that in the
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  industry generally models, celebrities, influencers don't
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  pay for a lot of things, meals, experiences, holidays, because
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  the brands profit directly from having people that have a strong
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  following use their product goes to the restaurant where they're
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  closed. My thing with this Alexander the
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  clerk thing is a couple of things.
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  One, I think clearly she liked the dress, which is nice.
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  Messaging a brand is not that crazy influences do it all the
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  time. I've done UGC for brands before.
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  I've also worked with brands and done like our placement before.
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  You either message them and request to work with them.
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  They give you free stuff and make a video or they pay you.
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  That is how the industry works. What I think is interesting is
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  the girls that posted the video, they clearly seem very excited
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  about her messaging them. Small brand, niche brand.
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  She has 4.9 million followers. It's great exposure.
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  Now I'm not sure what happened, why things went wrong, but I've
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  seen the videos got taken down. I don't know if they gave her
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  the dress as an as a celebrity influencer model, whatever.
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  If you now see that brand, you're not going to work with
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  them because you realize if you measure them directly,
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  privately, the messages you're sending are going to be shown
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  online. It's not a good look for the
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  brand I'm thinking for. The second thing is for the
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  brand, I think in terms of exposure, they fumble the bad
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  because even if the dress was cheap, and let's just be clear,
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  of course she can afford the dress.
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  It's not a money question. Charles Leclerc is one of the
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  richest people like in F1. So it's not about affordability,
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  it's about brand partnerships and building relationships.
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  You could have worn that dress and got sent it for free, then
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  start working with them on a more exclusive long term basis.
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  I feel like people just think about virality and what they can
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  post online and a quick view and don't think about long term
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  strategy. At the time of recording,
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  Alexandra has not addressed the situation, but she is receiving
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  a lot of hate. And this whole thing is pretty
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  interesting because I think that really solidifies something that
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  we have talked about on this podcast for, I mean, I, I'm
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  going to say like at least over a year, which is like, people
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  have such extreme influencer fatigue and the concept of PR
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  and like influencers and celebrities and wealthy people
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  and famous people getting free stuff is such an extremely sore
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  point for everybody right now amid cost of living, mass
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  layoffs across every single industry.
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  And this story is particularly interesting because this was
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  actually a small business, like showing a win, being like, this
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  is going to be a win. And this will probably
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  contribute to our small business like making money and, you know,
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  like having a big moment, but the Internet still got mad about
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  it. So I think that really shows
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  like how far influencer fatigue has gone and kind of like this
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  distaste for the influencer industry is right now amongst
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  the general public. And I wouldn't say that the
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  distaste extends beyond like comments and kind of like TikTok
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  and Reddit backlash. Like influencers and the creator
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  economy are, you know, bigger than ever, in many ways more
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  influential than ever and driving more sales than, you
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  know, any other type of, like, media has ever driven sales
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  before. So the actual data doesn't
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  always match up with like the general opinions that we see
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  online, which is also another really interesting part of this.
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  All right, the next story that I have for you guys today is we
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  have an update on the Katherine Ebbs grocery store saga.
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  So the grocery store that Catherine was in has clapped
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  back. We covered the saga on Tuesday,
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  but for a quick summary, lifestyle influencer Katherine
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  Ebbs posted this out of touch video while grocery shopping
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  over the 4th of July holiday weekend.
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  So she made claims that being at this so-called small town
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  grocery store was like being in a simulation.
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  The grocery store in question was Tops, which happens to be a
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  chain in the area. So it's not like some random
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  corner store. It is apparently a chain grocery
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  store. Anyway, viewers were really
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  disappointed in Catherine for posting a video like this.
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  And people felt like it was really her, like flaunting her
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  privilege. And OK, I said this on Tuesday.
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  I didn't articulate it well. But then I saw somebody else.
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  I think it they it was on TikTok, maybe articulate it so
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  much better than me. And I was like, that is what I
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  was trying to say. I was saying that she was trying
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  to have kind of like a silly, like oh, I'm so like goofy and
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  silly moment. And then I saw somebody describe
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  it as like peak bimbo, quote UN quote, like bimbo humor.
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  And I was like, that is exactly what I was trying to say.
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  It's giving kind of like 2000s Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie
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  humor when they were doing the simple Life and, you know, they
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  would go around like small towns and different communities and
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  play this kind of like privileged bimbo character,
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  right? And that is what this video came
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  across as. OK, So Tops has taken to
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  Instagram to respond to the viral moment.
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  They posted 10 pictures of a woman holding different items
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  available in the store, directly referencing Catherine's video.
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  The first picture in the dump had POV.
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  You're entering the grocery store simulation written over
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  the top of it, and the caption was even more pointed it read
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  POV. You're entering the grocery
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  store simulation. We heard some people are
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  surprised by what you can find at a teeny tiny grocery store in
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  the mountains. The good news?
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  We have over 150 stores across New York, PA, and Vermont, and
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  we're proud to serve communities of every size.
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  Whether you're shopping close to home or stocking up for a
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  mountain getaway, we've got everything you need from fresh
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  produce and quality meats to seafood, pantry staples and all
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  the best deals in town. And the Internet has love to
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  this. This is such a good example of a
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  brand harnessing A viral moment that is relevant to them.
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  As we know, the relevancy plays a big role here that is relevant
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  to them. And doing it in like kind of a
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  cheeky but still like tasteful way, like not getting in on the
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  hate. That is something that I hate to
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  see. It doesn't work.
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  It cheapens the brand. And we have seen it here and
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  there over the past several years with brand personalities,
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  like getting in on drama. And that is like, not the vibe.
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  And I don't see this as the same as that, right?
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  Like, this is a tasteful way to like turn this viral moment into
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  like a cheeky, cute promo for them.
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  And it doesn't make fun of her, doesn't like, bully her.
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  So the comments, people are loving it.
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  Somebody wrote a raise for the social media team.
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  We love our top simulation. Like everyone's getting in on
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  it. They're loving it.
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  Now. Catherine hasn't responded to
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  this, but she did do another vlog where she went to a grocery
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  store. So she just did a vlog.
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  I think it was yesterday I saw. And she was like, guess where
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  I'm going, guys? I'm going back to the grocery
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  store. So I think that's probably the
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  extent of the explanation that users are going to get from her.
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  All right. And the last story that I have
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  for you guys today is Jack Antonoff and Margaret Crawley
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  have apparently split. So the week after Taylor and
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  Travis's wedding, it seems her longtime collaborator has a
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  relationship update of his own. Jack Antonoff and Margaret
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  Crawley have separated after nearly three years of marriage,
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  according to an exclusive report from PEOPLE.
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  So, according to the publication, insiders describe
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  their relationship as rocky. However, representatives for
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  both Margaret and Jack did not respond to People's request for
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  comment. OK, so for contacts.
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  The pair started dating in 2021. They got engaged a year later in
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  2022, and they married in a private New Jersey ceremony in
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  August 2023. However, rumors that they had
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  split have been circulating for a little while, but they really
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  intensified after Jack reportedly attended Taylor and
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  Travis's wedding alone. At first, social media users
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  assumed that Margaret just couldn't make it because she was
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  filming her upcoming movie King Snake.
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  But then users pointed out that King Snake had reportedly
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  wrapped already and there already are relationship rumors
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  between Margaret and one of her Co stars, Drew Starkey.
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  And then Dumois said that Margaret was apparently in New
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  York at the time of the wedding. Regardless.
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  And then yesterday, right before the People exclusive came out,
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  everybody noticed that Margaret seemed to have deleted or
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  archived some pictures with Jack from her Instagram.
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  However those pictures have actually since been unarchived
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  and put back on the grid. OK, so I have seen so many
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  people be so excited for this. It seems like the Internet loves
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  Margaret Quali, but a lot of people, especially Swifty's,
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  really don't like Jack Antonov. And I was like, why is that?
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  Because I don't know enough of like the Swifty lore, right?
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  Like, I don't know enough of like the Taylor Swift lore to
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  like fully understand why Swifty's don't love him.
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  So I was like looking into it and it seems like they just
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  don't love that she, like consistently collaborates with
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  him. They think he's kind of boring.
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  And then there's also a lot of criticism around how he like
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  publicly did or did not seem to support Margaret throughout the
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  relationship. There's a lot of people that
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  feel like he was not super supportive of her.
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  He wouldn't show up to like some of her big events and things
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  like that. So in general, I think people
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  just feel like he was kind of like a bad partner to her.
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  But Margaret Quali is such an IT girl.
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  So if she is going to be in her single girl era, I'm so excited
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  to see how that goes. Anyways, guys, that's it for
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  mini scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
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  I love you guys. Please remember to rate, review
• 13:48
  and subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US.
• 13:50
  It helps us so much. It helps us grow.
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  And I will talk to you guys tomorrow for a Friday mini
• 13:55
  scroll bye. Centennial World podcast network
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  operates on Gadigal land. We would like to acknowledge the
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  Gadigal of the Aura Nation, the traditional custodians of this
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  land, and pay our respects to elders both past and present.