About seven years ago, in 2017, an exchange involving an influencer and a hotel owner blew up on social media. The reason? The influencer had asked the owner to let her stay for free. In exchange, she promised him “exposure” as she had more than 87,000 followers on YouTube. Now, that owner is suing the influencer for several million pounds.
It all began when Elle Darby, a British vlogger, sent an e-mail to Paul Stenson, Dublin’s White Moose Café’s owner. In it, she introduced herself politely and wanted to know if the owner would be interested in giving her and her partner free accommodations. She explained that she would bring further exposure to the hotel through dedicated recommendation videos on her YouTube and Instagram. Darby also gave an example of having worked with Florida’s Universal Orlando along the same lines, with “amazing” results for them.
Paul Stenson, though, would have none of it. He pointed out that, at the very least, Darby could have looked up the name of the person she was addressing. Then he praised her for being brave enough to even consider such a deal. He explained how “exposure” would not pay for all the staff and the services she would use during their stay. Stenson says: “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?”
He finally explains that the hotel also has a considerable social media following, but that would never make him ask for free stuff that is not so for everyone else. He ended the email with a suggestion to pay beforehand and then see if the hotel agrees to a complimentary upgrade to a suite.
Influence VS Owner – What Happened In The End?
Stenson’s strict response saw a lot of social media support, as a large section viewed influencers as freeloaders who hawk products in exchange for mere looks. Unfortunately, this had gone to an extreme, with Ms. Darby receiving torrents of abuse. In a following YouTube video, she explained that she had no issue with the refusal. Rather, the tone was far too harsh and did not warrant such consequential abuse.
In an ironic twist, though, this course of events exposed Stenson’s business more than ever before. On the one hand, he started getting bombarded with influencers all wanting to protest his attitude. As such, he decided to ban all bloggers and influencers from his hotel and cafe. On the other hand, the location became quite popular with other non-influencer guests. He even started selling merchandise that referenced the exchange! Check out the White Moose cafe FB page here.
A year later, in 2018, Stenson took another comic approach to the ugly scenario. In the White Moose Café Facebook group, he posted a picture of a mock bill wherein Ms. Darby was charged €4.3Mn (€5.2Mn including taxes). The item billed read: “The provision of features in 114 articles across 30 countries with a potential reach of 450 million people.” The bill also mentioned that only euros will be accepted as payment, and not Sterlings or “mentions in videos.” Take a look:
Most people found the joke funny, with some re-iterating their disbelief in the influencer industry. For example, one comment read: “Influencers are nothing more than useless professional beggars…” What do you think of the situation? Was the owner’s reply too harsh? Or should the influencer give more thought before proposing such a deal to a business? Let us know in the comments!
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Sources
- “Angry Hotel Owner’s Response Refusing Influencer Free Accommodation Goes Viral.” Bored Panda. Mindaugas Balčiauskas and James Caunt. 2021.
- “The Hotel This Influencer Wanted To Stay At For Free Is Now Billing Her Millions.” Yahoo. Tess Koman. February 2, 2023.
