'We're anti-influencer': ice-cream truck makes Instagram 'stars' pay double
Customers at Joe Nicchi’s ice-cream truck have increasingly had the same demand: give us your ice-cream for free.
CVT Soft Serve, a popular truck in Los Angeles, has started to receive weekly requests from self-proclaimed Instagram “influencers” who promise to post a photo of Nicchi’s ice-cream – if they don’t have to pay. Nicchi has always said no, but this week he found an unusual way to profit off of the influencers: he publicly told them to go away.
Nicchi went viral after posting a sign that said “influencers pay double”, writing on Instagram that he would “never give you a free ice-cream in exchange for a post”. The image, tagged #InfluencersAreGross, spread around the globe, and now Nicchi says his business is booming, attracting fans across southern California who share his disdain of influencers.
“We’re the anti-influencer influencers,” he told the Guardian on Wednesday. “It’s weird … but I think it’s really fun. I hope it inspires small businesses to hold their own and tell people to fuck off.”
Some brands and businesses now rely on Instagram “stars” to advertise their products and services, giving away free meals and hotel stays to people who post positively about the experience. The phenomenon has become so pervasive that some Instagrammers can easily scam companies. One Instagram influencer recently staged a “surprise” wedding engagement but had actually sent an itinerary to marketers months prior. It’s so trendy to be an influencer that some people have taken to pretending their content is sponsored when it’s not.
Nicchi understands the importance of promotion. He’s a working actor in LA, who started CVT Soft Serve in 2014 as a way to supplement his income.
“This is a money-making thing. I can’t give away my ice-cream for free,” he said, noting that he had paid for his first truck with his salary from shooting a commercial.
The soft serve at CVT (which stands for his three flavor offerings: chocolate, vanilla, or twist) and his vintage-looking truck are very Instagrammable. Influencers quickly noticed. In his first year, he got a small handful of influencer offers, typically people emailing suggesting promotional deals in exchange for free ice-cream.
“They love using the word ‘exposure’. It’s so ridiculous,” he said.
But the frequency of the requests began to escalate – and became more uncomfortable as they started happening in person, said Nicchi: “The most painful thing for me is when they approach me at the truck.”
It never made sense to him: “Are you out of your mind? This is four dollars. But obviously they wouldn’t be asking if people weren’t saying yes.”
At times, the requests were particularly offensive. He said an assistant to a famous actor – a woman on a television show who he declined to name – recently asked if he would donate ice-cream to the cast and crew. In exchange, the actor offered to take a photo at his truck.
His response: “As much as I’d love to do that, I don’t think my kid’s school accepts celebrity photos as a form of tuition payment.”
The assistant responded with a nasty and vaguely threatening message, he said, along the lines of: “I should be careful with my words … This is a very small town.”
Nicchi eventually became so tired of influencers that he put up his anti-influencer sign at the truck, making clear that people who requested a free cone would get the opposite – they’d have to pay $8 instead of $4. A customer took a photo and posted it to Reddit, which then went viral.
He said he had since gotten interview requests and news coverage from across the world, and he is loving it. The number of customers doubled overnight, and he has earned thousands of new followers on Instagram.
“There’s something so redeeming about outing influencers,” he said, adding that many small businesses have written to him thanking him for speaking up. “I hope that more people do not allow likes and comments and followers to hold weight in the business. I want people to go to a restaurant because the food and service is fantastic.”
Brittany Hennessy, an author who has written about influencers, said companies with marketing budgets can benefit from working with social media personalities, and that a giveaway can pay off. But a small food truck may not a good fit, she said: “People will try and get anything for free … No real influencer would ask for a four-dollar ice-cream.”
While Nicchi is happy to promote his own business on social media, he said he didn’t want to depend on the platform. “If Instagram went away tomorrow, our truck would still survive. I don’t know that your ‘influencer’ business would.”
Nicchi offered to let the Guardian try his ice-cream, under one condition: that the reporter pay for the cone.
I wish I could slap the fuck out of an “influencer” and I’m talking full on bitch slap with the skin making that loud noise. I’m so tired of these idiots and social media. “I’m an influencer” no you’re an ASSHOLE! Get a damn job.
What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
Posts: 13042 | Location: Down South | Registered: January 16, 2010
I saw a story recently where a hotel told one of these idiots to go pound sand. She was leaning really hard on them to comp her.... they replied that they'd take a chance on offending her twelve followers.
I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm.
Posts: 17944 | Location: Virginia | Registered: June 02, 2006
Originally posted by lkdr1989: I hope it inspires small businesses to hold their own and tell people to fuck off.
That made me smile
Me too
“We truly live in a wondrous age of stupid.” - 83v45magna
"I think it's important that people understand free speech doesn't mean free from consequences societally or politically or culturally." -Pranjit Kalita, founder and CIO of Birkoa Capital Management
Let me see if I got this, a pajama boy comes to my business and wants something for free, and will post pictures of it with his phone to promote my business, ok. My response would be listen you pansy get a real job and move out of moms basement, the world isn't here to give you free stuff.This message has been edited. Last edited by: spunk639,
Posts: 2857 | Location: Boston, Mass | Registered: December 02, 2000
It all started with pizza.... between Dominos and Papa Johns pretty much giving their pizzas away they were telling the public exactly what their product was worth.
I ran a snack route for over 30 years. When I'm delivering to my accounts I always have people coming up to the back of my truck asking for free samples. I'm not talking kids these are adults that seem to think they give me product to give away to the public. I'm always polite but tell them No , sorry I don't. Some accept that others seem offended or just won't let it go at that. The entitlement society we live in. Sometimes they change gears and then ask if I have a dollar they can have. The women ask for money so they can buy baby formula. Never ends.
It is unreal what some people will in order to get something for nothing. If you have a good product, it will sell itself no matter who says what. Good for that vendor and shame, as if they have any, on those wanting something for nothing because my feels.
"Here's your free... oops... ah... you better get that professionally cleaned right away so the stain isn't permanent. No, I'm not paying, use your social media influence."
The other would be when asked for free ice cream in exchange for social media influence, act as if you are going to fill a bowl, but hand the beggar an empty clear plastic cup that holds about 5 ml saying "Here you go. As One Timothy 15:18 says, 'The labourer is worthy of their hire.'"
Nice is overrated
"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government." Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
Posts: 32237 | Location: Loudoun County, Virginia | Registered: May 17, 2006
Remarkable how much things have changed. In the mid-70's I briefly worked a soft serve truck with my route through some of DC's less affluent neighborhoods. Daily I received threats "this truck is going to burn" when I declined to hand out freebies, invariably directed at me from young, non-asian-looking men.
Posts: 6872 | Location: NoVA | Registered: July 22, 2009
I don’t think so poorly of these people/influencers. It’s a free market. They are basically selling advertisements. If they have enough followers it can be a worthy investment. If they get all douchy demanding free shit then fuck 'em. But otherwise good luck.This message has been edited. Last edited by: frayedends,
These go to eleven.
Posts: 12605 | Location: Westminster, MA | Registered: November 14, 2006
Ever since THIS COUPLE hit the scene and profiting off their travels and photography, every two-bit, wannabe, has been trying to get on their train and emulate their 'dream'.
It's a great life if you can pull it off, the reality is, you need to be ahead of the curve. There's no finer example of influencer stupidity than the Fyre Festival.
Posts: 15134 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000
