Entertainment is a fun business, some artists and wannabe business people think when they feel they have become a great influencer. I am personally been approached by several persons who wanted free services in return of the so-called exposure which I didn’t ask for.
A Youtuber was recently shamed publicly by Dublin based hotel, The White Moose Café after she approached them for free stay in return of promotions.
The 22-year-old Elle Darby wrote an email to the hotel and asked for free five-day stay with her partner before Valentines Day and offered free “exposure” in return.
In the mail, she said that she had over 87,000 YouTube subscribers and a further 76,000 Instagram followers.
She said-
“My partner and I are planning to come to Dublin for an early Valentines Day weekend.”
And added-
“I came across your stunning hotel and would love to feature you in my YouTube videos/dedicated Instagram stories/posts to bring traffic to your hotel and recommend others to book up in return for free accommodation.”
This really irked the hotel owner who shared the screenshot of her email publicly on Facebook without revealing the identity.
He wrote a long message along with it and mentioned that it takes ‘a lot of balls’ to send an email like that, but ‘not much self-respect and dignity’, making a point of asking how all of his staff would get paid if he were to give her the freebie.
Here’s what hotel owner wrote in a viral post:-
Dear Social Influencer (I know your name but apparently it’s not important to use names), Thank you for your email looking for free accommodation in return for exposure. It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that, if not much self-respect and dignity.
If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room? The waiters who serve you breakfast? The receptionist who checks you in? Who is going to pay for the light and heat you use during your stay? The laundering of your bed sheets? The water rates? Maybe I should tell my staff they will be featured in your video in lieu of receiving payment for work carried out while you’re in residence?
Lucky for us, we too have a significant social media following. We have 186k followers on our two Facebook pages, an estimated 80k on our Snapchat, 32k on Instagram and a paltry 12k on our Twitter, but Jesus Christ, I would never in a million years ask anyone for anything for free. I also blog a bit (www.paulvstenson.com), which as far as I’m aware is another way of saying “write stuff on the internet”. The above stats do not make me any better than anyone else or afford me the right to not pay for something everyone else has to pay for. In future, I’d advise you to offer to pay your way like everyone else, and if the hotel in question believes your coverage will help them, maybe they’ll give you a complimentary upgrade to a suite. This would show more self-respect on your part and, let’s face it, it would be less embarrassing for you. Here is a little video I produced which you may learn from: http://bit.ly/2mKTDTD
The post got a lot of attention and people found out the blogger even though Stenson kept it hidden. Meanwhile, Stenson was so angry that he went on to declare a ban on whole Bloggers community. He posted on Twitter-
Soon, the 22-year-old blogger Elle was bombarded with negative comments which led her to make a Youtube video and narrate the whole matter. An emotional Elle told that she contacted Stenson with “nothing but the purest intentions”.
She also claimed that people who are over the age of 30 have “no idea how social media works these days”
Watch the video-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8zElbN2_hg
Click Here to watch the video on Youtube.
After the whole scene, the matter has taken a new turn. Paul Stenson has sent her an invoice for the exposure they’ve given her and that too as huge as £4,410,063 (Rs 40 crores approx).
The hotel shared the invoice on Twitter and charged her for “the provision of features in 114 articles across 20 countries with a potential reach of 450 million people” which she got because of them. Take a look-
I’m posting out this invoice today… pic.twitter.com/FYFONTWoOd
— The White Moose Café (@whitemoosecafe) January 20, 2018
You can directly check the invoice below-
A 23% VAT was added extra.
What do you think about it?
