CTV Soft Serve/InstagramAn ice cream vendor got so fed up with ‘influencers’ asking for freebies that he decided to charge them double.
CVT Soft Serve in Los Angeles took to social media to share its new policy: ask for a free cone and you must pay double.
The ice cream company took to Facebook to blast ‘gross’ influencers who ask for free ice cream by uploading a picture of an employee holding a sign that read ‘influencers pay double’.
‘We’ve decided to make this thing official with signage,’ the caption said. ‘We truly don’t care if you’re an Influencer, or how many followers you have. We will never give you a free ice cream in exchange for a post on your social media page. It’s literally a $4 item…well now it’s $8 for you. #InfluencersAreGross.’
A second post added: ‘We couldn’t care less about how many followers you have, and we’re super embarrassed for you when you tell us.’
The policy came after CVT co-founder Joe Nicchi was ‘burned out on people trying to get free ice cream in exchange for their posts.’
He told Newsweek:
LA is full of so-called ‘influencers’ with large followings that are actually fake because they most likely paid for likes and follows. Anyone can have a following if they want to pay for it. Google ‘social media bots.’
The 2019 version of ‘Do you know who I am?’ is ‘I’m an influencer,’ but without the talent.
Thankfully, the policy has been pretty well received from followers who’ve praised the company for its ‘no influence discount’.
One follower joked:
How do you expect to achieve any degree of success without kowtowing to wannabe powerbrokers?
Don’t you care about turning your business into a multi-level conglomerate with its paws in every little aspect of life? You’ll never become the next Donald Trump that way. Tisk. Tisk. Tisk.
But the well-established brand doesn’t need free promo from influencers, as it already has some pretty famous customers, like actor Bill Murray.
Nicchi continued:
We cater for some pretty big A-list talent in Hollywood, and I have no interest in giving them free product. I have a family and plenty of bills to pay! My kids’ school doesn’t take celebrity photos as a form of tuition payment.
Luckily, the company does love most of its customers, see below:
CVT stands for Chocolate Vanilla Twist and was founded in 2012 by Nicchi and his wife Taylor. The menu simply offers chocolate or vanilla ice cream, or a combination of the two.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.