The echo of the reputational disaster of Chiara Ferragni it has also arrived abroad, where the influencer has an excellent following. But from Europe to Australia, the influencer’s star has dimmed and the risk of it going out is very high. The case of the Balocco pandoro has shocked his followers and not everyone is willing to follow it again. On the other hand, what is taking shape as a casual method to link commercial activities with charitable ones, not always in a clear way, in the case of pandoro (and not only) has involved children and, in this specific case, those suffering from cancer. A communication hazard which will not be easily forgiven.
“The most powerful influencer in Italy he cheated children with cancer”, is the title of the German Bild, which comes down hard against the influencer with over 29 million followers. And again, the Brisbane Times Australian headline: “The uber-influencer who flew too close to the sun”. But the news had to echo in all Western countries and not only that, it reached India and the United States. In Spain, The vanguard titled: “Chiara Ferragni’s empire in the process of collapse“. And it is in Spain that we asked some questions to the influencer’s target audience, the young and very young girls who saw her as a model to follow to have a millionaire’s life in the future by exploiting the potential of social media without having to try their hand at traditional jobs.
“If that were really the case, it should disappear forever“, tells us a very young Spaniard who is having an aperitif in a bar on the seafront in Malaga with some friends. “Children don’t get involved in business, nor hers, much less sick ones”, echoes a friend. However the two girls do not claim to be fans of the influencer, they still admit that they follow her but that they will probably soon join the almost 200 thousand people who have abandoned her since the outbreak of the chaos. “If what the Italian media say is true, Chiara must to apologize“, another girl in her twenties tells us. In these parts, however, not everyone knows who Chiara Ferragni is: we have met several people who are not aware of her existence or, if they know her, they are not updated on the latest events.
The story of the Balocco pandoro, even if it were to be resolved positively in court with a dismissal or an acquittal for the influencer, leaves behind it a trail of destruction notable for Ferragni. Also because a ethical and moral level It certainly left its mark on its target audience. No one is a judge of the ethics or morals of others, a lesson that no one has ever given to the influencer who has taken the stage more than once.