Charli D'Amelio Pretending To Be A Walmart Employee For A Video Has People Furious — 'A Multimillionaire Mocking Your Entire Existence'
The backlash from Charli D'Amelio's latest video stunt is intense.
DFree / Shutterstock In a surprising collaboration, Charli D’Amelio partnered with Walmart to promote her new popcorn brand. However, this collaboration did not go as planned and has ignited serious criticism, with many accusing D’Amelio of mocking everyday working Americans.
Charli D'Amelio's latest stunt pretending to be a Walmart employee has sparked outrage.
The video shows D'Amelio checking out items and fixing her hair continuously, and the 19-year-old social media sensation joyfully navigating a Walmart store. The backlash, however, was swift.
Many people detested how flippant she was about the job and commented that actual work is a lot more stressful and serious than her portrayal.
But the blame for the PR stunt should not be on D'Amelio alone.
Amidst the outrage surrounding the controversy, it is essential to delve into the details of this collaboration. While the public's anger is absolutely justified, there are a few key factors to consider.
To start, it is worth questioning where the idea came from. Do we believe that it was Charli D’Amelio’s idea or did Walmart perhaps play a more significant role in orchestrating the stunt?
Some could argue that this idea was proposed by Walmart to generate attention. Despite criticism, the video, which has since been deleted from D'Amelio's account, but has been shared across social media has been viewed millions of times.
Further, even though D’Amelio has a hand in this controversy, we should be mindful how we respond. D’Amelio has opened up previously about her mental health and how reading hate comments absolutely destroyed her at one point. Remember: we can criticize her, but still be respectful as individuals when we do so.
Given her privilege and influence, however, we should expect a higher degree of responsibility and sensitivity from D'Amelio. Yet, it is worth acknowledging that D’Amelio, like most young people, has room for growth and learning from her mistakes.
While many people have expressed outrage at the Walmart video, there were plenty of fans who defended the ill-considered stunt.
One user remarked, “I bet she didn’t even want to do this. Her family is there doing a photo shoot promotion for their popcorn Walmart is now selling. If you’re going to tweet out of jealousy at least know what you’re talking about."
Another commenter took a more pragmatic view, saying, "I don’t see the issue? [We're] supposed to be mad that someone who won the Lottery is working a minimum wage job and looks happy doing it?"
Whether it was an insensitive stunt or brilliant marketing can be debated endlessly, but at the end of the day, research suggests that influencers aren't "influencing" consumers like they had in the past. A recent report found that only 3% of consumers are actually inspired to purchase from celebrity spokespeople. That's not much.
It could be that we have a reached a point of saturation from the influence of social media. Some argue that there's too much sponsored content on socials and people are more savvy when it comes to the underhanded marketing tactics. Others simply have influencer fatigue.
Whatever the cause, the social media marketing game is changing, and the backlash from this most recent collaboration is proof. Perhaps this will be a wake-up call for both D'Amelio as a celebrity and Walmart as a brand.
Marielisa Reyes is an Entertainment and News Writer for YourTango. She focuses on pop culture and human interest topics.