Mengaku dirinya Social Media Influencer, Elle Darby (22) mengajukan penawaran kerjasama dengan satu hotel mewah di Dublin, Irlandia. Tawarannya ke Charleville Lodge Hotel itu fantastis. Darby minta akomodasi gratis selama 5 malam. Imbalannya? Promosi cuma-cuma. Dengan menampilkan ulasan atau review Charleville Lodge Hotel di akun YouTube dan Instagram milik Darby.
Melalui email kepada Paul Stenson, pemilik hotel sekaligus caf (The White Moose Caf), Darby menyebut angka 87.000 follower Youtube dan 76.000 pengikut Instagram-nya.
Sayangnya, bukan kerjasama yang terjalin, justru sebaliknya.
Stenson mengunggah screenshot surat elektronik Darby melalui facebook The White Moose Caf. Status yang ditulis Stenson pun panjang. Intinya, menolak tawaran kerjasama sekaligus "merendahkan" Darby.
Email Darby kepada Stenson yang di-screenshot dan diunggah Stenson ke media sosial. (Sumber: The White Moose Cafe Facebook)
Begini, kata Paul Stenson: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 - paulvstenson[dot]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.
Tak pelak, postingan yang diunggah pada 16 Januari ini pun viral. Tercatat, sampai 21 Januari (09.06 wib), postingan ini sudah di-share 3.252 kali, menerima 3.700 komentar, dan 23.000 pemberi ikon.