Can a French Minister be an Instagram Influencer?

From Marlène Schiappa to ✨@Marlène_Situations✨

The recent mockery that her arrival on Tiktok had provoked didn't stop Marlène Schiappa in her tracks! Indeed, the Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship did it again, attracting the wrath of Internet users, but this time on Instagram. Didn't hear from it? No problem, we'll summarize it for you.

Last Sunday, January 3rd, she wanted to share her hair tips 💇 with her community of nearly 40K followers. On this post we can see her waving her hair in slow motion, with a legend that praises the merits of a hair salon. The post using the codes of a sponsored publication, auditors thought of a partnership and did not hesitate to mock and blame this initiative 🤬. They had such a blast that the #lissagegate became a Top Tweet! 🔝

‍

Following this spate of taunts on Twitter, the minister's relatives denied the facts, claiming that it was a hack and therefore a false post ❌ . Hard to believe because everything seemed to suggest that it was indeed her personal initiative. Moreover, the deletion of her publication and the lately setting in private of her Instagram account are not likely to reassure public opinion. 💬

This bad buzz took such a magnitude that French TV presenter Cyril Hanouna, who we know to be used to dealing with subjects of capital importance 🤡, invited the hairdresser in question on his TV set to get to the bottom of this story. It would then seem that it was not a partnership, but a simple friendly publicity stunt for the brand. 🤝

‍

So fake post or partnership, this story raised an interesting question:

‍

Can we mix Politics and Influence Marketing? 🤨

It is essential for politicians today to be present on social media in order to communicate and take a position on various subjects. This allows them to generate quite large communities on these platforms, sometimes even larger than those of some influencers. But then why does it trigger such a controversy when it comes to influence marketing? 🤔

‍

Many athletes, singers, actors and other public figures take advantage of their networks to promote the brands or brands they like; yet these people are not intended to become influencers! Following this logic, a minister should have just as much right, without being shamed, to use her community and her influence.

‍

On the other hand, a politician has an image to maintain and must appear credible 🧐. The risk of this type of publication, as we have seen with Schiappa, is to completely undermine himself. Most people considered inappropriate for a minister to use her community to promote a brand, and we've seen it on the media The French public does not yet seem to be ready to accept the idea of a minister wanting to play at being the next Zoe Sugg. 🤳

‍

Although obviously no politician had the intention of becoming an influencer, the chain reaction that #lissagegate provokes warned all those who would have thought of it. What a shame to miss the potential skin care routine of Kamala Harrisn 👀 ... But who knows, everything can change, let's not forget that tomorrow's politicians have all created a TikTok account in 2020! 📲 Will they follow the same approach as Jean-Luc Mélenchon (a French politician) ? To be continued ...

‍