An Aussie influencer has called out a brand on Twitter for allegedly photoshopping their products into her photos before sharing them on their own social media accounts.
Law graduate, YouTuber and founder of Slinkii Athletic Pia Muehlenbeck, who has almost two million followers on Instagram, made the claims about SkinnyMint TeaTox on Twitter this morning.
“@SkinnyMintCom are illegally stealing my photos and photoshopping their products in to my photos. Anyone have any advice on this matter,” she tweeted.
She then shared pictures of the original photos which do not feature packs of the brand’s detox tea which appear clearly visible in images shared on their Instagram account.
Muehlenbeck told Mamamia, she discovered her images were being used after a follower in Germany messaged her about it.
Mamamia reached out for comment from SkinyMint TeaTox who issued a statement saying they were inspired by Sugar Bear Hair’s Instagram.
“They use a lot of photoshopped images to create some interesting content. So were tried this too. The image was on our page for a few weeks and we saw Pia’s comment and deleted the image,” it read.
“We are sorry, we didn’t properly think through the consequences. We were inspired by Sugar bear hair who is photoshopping images and getting a lot of positive feedback. Obviously it didn’t work for us due to the images we used and the content owner not approving it.”
Muehlenbeck’s followers responded with support, with several other influencers including Gabby Epstein and beauty YouTuber Chloe Morello also expressing their surprise.
Last week, they shared the image again although this time a packet of their tea appears in the image next to Somerfield.
Muehlenbeck has since been tagged in this photo with the comment, “It looks like you’re not the only one they’re doing it to.”
The world of intellectual property on social media is a murky one.
The stealing of images from influencers without their permission is reportedly growing at an increasing rate as users and brands look to tap into their huge numbers of followers.
Listen: The case for realistic images on Instagram on Mamamia Out Loud. Post continues after audio…
In Muehlenbeck’s case, not only have her images been stolen without her permission but she’s also being portrayed as endorsing a product she has not agreed to. With influencers often commanding a hefty fee to feature products and brands on their social media because their followers trust their recommendations, this is concerning.
“Ultimately it’s annoying, but I’ll survive! I think social influencer generated video content is going to become more popular than photo based content for brands this year, and I suspect we’ll see a shift in sponsored posts towards video, which can’t easily be reposted and palmed off as advertising another product,” she told Mamamia.
“Clients that booked me last year for photos, are already now booking me for YouTube videos instead this year. Perhaps that’s the trend that will stop this sort of content theft.”
If this does happen to you, blogger David Sandel advises filling in an Intellectual Property Theft claim on Instagram rather than reporting the image as spam, as this doesn’t necessarily mean the picture will be removed.
“Just like a company defending a patent, brand managers, and those managing their personal brands, need to defend their own intellectual property from being stolen and copycats,” he wrote last month.
Top Comments
I thought she meant a plastic surgeon had photo shopped her fake boobs.
Not to mention her lips! I am so sick of seeing these women with multiple surgeries, plucked, tanned, contoured and photoshopped to within an inch of their lives being worshiped on Insta. I feel so sorry for the younger generation of girls growing up thinking that's the standard of beautiful they are supposed to replicate.
If you're going to steal someone's photo and Photoshop your product into the shot, at least make it *good* Photoshop! That response from the company was pretty lame - 'we saw someone else do it, so we did it too', seriously? What are you, twelve years old? If another company jumped off a bridge, would you do that too?