Crammed full of pouting selfies, snapshots of envy-inducing holidays and general self-promotion, Instagram is usually screaming under the weight of the posts churned out each day.
But for 24 hours last week, this noisy corner of the world wide web was rather quieter than usual.
A host of celebrities and assembled worthies — including Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio to name a few — temporarily hit pause on their profiles.
Why? As part of the #StopHate ForProfit, a boycott against Facebook (and, by extension, its sister company Instagram) organised by civil rights activists in order to hold social media companies accountable for allowing ‘hate on their platforms’.
A host of celebrities and assembled worthies — including Gwyneth Paltrow (left), Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio to name a few — temporarily hit pause on their profiles. Also pictured: Cara Delevigne (right)
But surely if a celebrity really wants to protest against social media, the most powerful statement would be to quit it all together? The trouble is that Instagram is a powerful tool in a celebrity’s profile — not to mention bank balance. Not only can they use it to plug their various projects to millions of fans, they can also hope to rake in thousands of pounds advertising other brands. A well-placed plug can net them more than £300,000 per post; reality star Kylie Jenner is rumoured to be paid almost $1million (£780,000) per sponsored post.
Michael Heller, founder of global agency Talent Resources, says that what determines a star’s value for marketing on Instagram is not so much how many followers they have, but ‘how engaged’ the audience is. Because the more followers ‘like’ or comment on a post, the more likely they are to then click on a link to buy a celebrity-endorsed product.
Here, we look at those involved in #StopHateForProfit, and consult with Instagram marketing experts to demonstrate why celebrities will never really boycott ‘Plug-stagram’.
KIM KARDASHIAN
Followers: 189million
Estimated amount per paid post: £390,000
Business plugs in the past year: 167
Net worth: £700million
No family has mastered the art of self-promotion quite like the Kardashians. Reality star Kim, 39, has translated her TV success into a multi-armed, multi-million dollar business empire —and all of it is liberally flogged on Instagram.
Her assets include her KKW beauty line (valued at more than £785 million last year), KKW fragrances and her shapewear line Skims, which sold around £1.5million worth of smalls within minutes of its launch last year.
But Kim is happy to promote other business, too — for a fee, of course. During a court wrangle with fashion firm Missguided last year, she revealed she can receive from £280,000 to £390,000 per sponsored post. However, she’s reported to reap £660,000 for some.
While you can promote your own business on Instagram without declaring it, advertising rules state that paid-for promotions must be marked with #ad, #sponsored or similar. In the last year, Kim has had paid partnerships with UberEats Australia and Facebook’s smart camera sidearm Portal, and posted about teeth whitening using the hashtag ‘HiSmilePartner’.
No family has mastered the art of self-promotion quite like the Kardashians
CARA DELEVINGNE
Followers: 44.1 million
Estimated amount per paid post: £230,000
Business plugs in past year: 32
Net worth: £27million
So valuable is the power of Instagram that model agents negotiate specific clauses in their clients’ contracts, with a fee for an Instagram post of the campaign pictures in which the model stars.
Cara Delevingne is the UK’s highest-paid model and her posts include several marked as a paid partnership with sports brand Puma, for whom she endorses her own range. Marketing experts say she is thought to be paid more than £2 million a year.
The 28-year-old also has a contract thought to be worth £1 million with Dior, name-checking the brand several times, along with two paid-for posts for watch brand Tag Heuer.
Cara Delevingne is the UK’s highest-paid model and her posts include several marked as a paid partnership with sports brand Puma, for whom she endorses her own range
PENELOPE CRUZ
Followers: 5.4 million
Estimated amount per paid post: £195,000
Business plugs in past year: 51
Net worth: £43 million
The Spanish-born actress has a slightly more highbrow profile than others, but when it comes to Instagram she means business.
She’s got a lucrative deal as a spokesmodel for Lancome, is an ambassador for Chanel and has her own collection with jeweller Swarovski, all of which get plugged liberally on her account, as of course do her screen and magazine projects.
The 46-year-old doesn’t always make clear that she’s paid by the trio of stellar names above, but occasionally drops in #ad.
‘So grateful for my long relationship with my @lancomeofficial family,’ she chirps in one post. No wonder — she was reportedly earning £2.4 million a year representing parent company L’Oreal back in 2006, and could easily expect to be earning six figures for her deals with both Chanel and Swarovski.
Her global audience and luxury market means she can command a substantial fee for making Instagram posts, says Michael Heller, probably negotiated as part of her multi-million-pound deals with the brands she has worked closely with for years.
The Spanish-born actress has a slightly more highbrow profile than others, but when it comes to Instagram she means business
GWYNETH PALTROW
Followers: 7.2 million
Estimated amount per paid post: £390,000
Business plugs in past year: 41
Net worth: £100 million
These days, actress-turned-lifestyle guru Gwyneth is more likely to be found plugging vagina-scented candles than striving for an Academy Award.
Since she started her lifestyle company, Goop, as a website in 2008, it has grown into a £200 million business — so Gwynnie, 47, peppers her Instagram with mentions of it.
Before joining the boycott, she wrote ‘I am not a very frequent poster...’ but in fact she uses Instagram multiple times a month.
Her paid posts included a recent plug for the Miami Cocktail Company’s organic drinks and plugs for a short film, in which she stars, advertising Dubai. Two days after the Instagram boycott she was back with a paid partnership post about an anti-wrinkle product.‘A post from someone like Gwyneth Paltrow hits the universe,’ says Michael Heller.
These days, actress-turned-lifestyle guru Gwyneth is more likely to be found plugging vagina-scented candles than striving for an Academy Award
KATE HUDSON
Followers: 12.3 million
Estimated amount per paid post: £150,000
Business plugs in past year: 120
Net worth: £62 million
Actress and mother-of-three Kate has numerous businesses she regularly promotes on Instagram.
The most prominent is Fabletics, a subscription-based activewear firm, of which the 41-year-old is a co-founder. It has annual revenues of more than £230 million.
Her Instagram gallery is full of pictures of Ms Hudson in Lycra yoga gear. Fabletics chalked up 32 plugs in the past year, along with 12 posts about her own vodka brand, ten for her sustainable fashion line and 37 for a podcast she presents with her brother Oliver.
There were also six plugs for her ‘nutritional powders’ and some sponsored plugs for Dubai.
Actress and mother-of-three Kate has numerous businesses she regularly promotes on Instagram
MIRANDA KERR
Followers: 12.3 million
Estimated amount per paid post: £39,000
Business plugs in past year: 120
Net worth: £45 million
The former Victoria’s Secret model has a successful Australian skincare line, Kora Organics, and a furniture brand, Miranda Kerr Home.
Backed largely by her own finances (Miranda owns 95 per cent of Kora), the 37-year-old has turned it into an international empire — and boy, does she know how to plug her stuff. The mother-of-three has chalked up at least 46 references in the past year.
It’s hardly surprising she’s a social media whiz, as her husband Evan Spiegel is the multi-billionaire co-founder of messaging app Snapchat.
Her homewares also get liberally plugged, usually underneath a photograph of Miranda looking glamorous at home. And while nothing is marked ‘paid partnership’ or ‘ad’ — for which it’s thought she would get between £19,000 and £39,000 per post — it’s still an Insta-business success story.
The former Victoria’s Secret model has a successful Australian skincare line, Kora Organics, and a furniture brand, Miranda Kerr Home
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