8 Comments
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Chef Bear's avatar

Fantastic article. Can’t wait for part 2!

Martin Lam's avatar

Excellent work, much needed in these times

Richard Kemp's avatar

Bombshell reporting! I can't wait to read Part Two!

Meg Houghton-Gilmour's avatar

Thank you Richard 😎

Folco Diggle's avatar

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Hugh Thomas's avatar

a full on Bristol influencer circle jerk I did not have on my bingo card, but here it is

Liam Collens's avatar

Well done Meg. I wondered if you ever heard about The Shed in London?

Millie Baron's avatar

I agree with you that ads and sponsored content should always be clearly disclosed, and businesses shouldn’t be buying fake positive Google reviews. But your article still feels quite biased.

If an influencer is being paid while still giving their followers an honest review, that’s actually a good thing. We should want transparency and honesty - not people pretending they loved something just because they got a free meal. The real issue is influencers who only ever post glowing reviews regardless of the experience.

Also, for many creators, this is their job. It’s not just “going out for free food.” It involves filming, editing, writing copy, managing audiences, and creating content that takes real time and effort. Expecting people to do all of that for free while businesses benefit from the exposure doesn’t really seem fair either.

Hopefully the second part of your article offers a more balanced and realistic perspective rather than presenting the issue as completely one-sided.