Amazon influencers like Gifford and Sheil don’t make content just to inspire people. They post on TikTok and Instagram to redirect audiences back to Amazon. In some ways, it is the most ruthless version of influencer marketing, where every item appearing onscreen is an opportunity for micro-earnings.
Having been part of the Amazon Affiliate program in the past, I can say 100% that both of these influencers’ vibes (“clean girl”) were not their original content/creation but were instead molded by Amazon.
The way it worked when I did it was that Amazon would offer x% commission on most items but would also offer x+% on selected items.
You would get an email or could log in to find out which products were earning more at any time.
So for the Affiliates using the program as influencers, their money-making mission was to put higher-earning products together (adding another item or two for variety) and then market that sort of done-for-you vibe bundle–thus maximizing earnings, rather than focusing on highlighting a single product.
This is why all Amazon Affiliate influencers (or lists, like Buzzfeed Shopping “30 must-have cozy home items for true crime nerds”) have the same items, often repeatedly: The Affiliates earn more on those products.
This is how Amazon shapes the “aesthetic” and creates trends that Affiliate/influencers then peddle.
And FYI, these trends and their influencers benefit more than just those specific ASINs, or even only Amazon.
As soon as you click a link, Amazon is showing you hundreds of “alikes” and “also boughts” to add to your cart. What you don’t know is that if that Affiliate’s link leads you to other purchases, the Affiliate earns commission on your whole cart with that purchase, up to (IIRC) 30 days from the click.
Plenty of Influencers are affiliates on multiple platforms, so they will create those vibe bundles with a few products from Amazon, a few from Etsy, a few from a paid partnership, etc. But they always start with the Amazon extra-earners.
As far as content creation IP protection, this should get interesting. For example, those quick cuts were actually a staple of 90s videos on the MTV… who really “owns” methods?
Neither of them started this blah trend. Even Joanna Gaines wasn’t the first.
Eventually the trend will change, because once everyone has the neutral look, it is no longer the it thing to have.
The trend will be back to colors or something other than this.
Yeah I was personally insulted by the 21yo talking about how she grew up in a home with “stuff” and “colors” like the trauma it caused.
Meanwhile I grew up in homes with STUFF and COLORS…like these but dingier and third-hand or homemade (my search term was “funky bohemian contemporary Victorian maximalist interior”)
I’m one of “those people” with different colors in almost every room.
My wife and I were “influenced” by Trading Spaces of the early 00s.
The thing you’ll always notice with those influencers: there is only a few portions/corners of their house that they photograph. The rest is actually clutter and color. They’re putting up a front for the algo.
Vibrant and cozy! And in my childhood homes, the objects all had meaning, and the displayed artwork was all made my someone we knew personally (often one relative or another) or had a whole story to it.
I mean, I do get the sad beige aesthetic, and on some days this mama is definitely threatening to throw out or donate every single overwhelming pile of clutter, but the energy needed to so carefully curate your life must be exhausting, and maybe even a bit lonely.
who really “owns” methods?
like the trauma it caused.
