Kim Kardashian and her entire family have been known to promote sponsored products on their social media accounts.
The majority of the women in the Kardashian/Jenner family have worked with brands for years–like Fit Tea and Sugarbear Hair Vitamins–posting photos to their millions of followers “swearing” by these products. While they make a nice chunk of change to promote these products, not all of them are sending the right message to women and followers.
Just this week, Kim Kardashian posted a sponsored ad for “Flat Tummy Co.” and their “appetite suppressing lollipops.” The photo showed a done-up Kim Kardashian sucking on one of the lollipops with a caption that said:
You guys…@flattummyco just dropped a new product. They’re Appetite Suppressing Lollipops and they’re literally unreal. They’re giving the first 500 people on their website 15% OFF so if you want to get your hands on some…you need to do it quick! #suckit
Obviously, there are a lot of young girls who follow Kim Kardashian and her family and promoting a product that “suppresses” your appetite is not setting a positive example for anyone. Eating disorders are a real thing amongst teenage girls–promoting skipping meals and suppressing appetites is a poor image to portray and a bad lesson to teach them. Someone with this much influence in the media spotlight should know better–regardless of how much of a cut the company gives you for the post.
I’m not the only one who feels strongly about this–many celebrities, influencers, and followers have spoken out in outrage over Kim’s sponsored post.
Actress Jameela Jamil wrote on Twitter:
MAYBE don’t take appetite suppressors and eat enough to fuel your BRAIN and work hard and be successful. And to play with your kids. And to have fun with your friends. And to have something to say about your life at the end, other than “I had a flat stomach.” ? pic.twitter.com/XsBM3aFtAQ
— Jameela Jamil (@jameelajamil) May 16, 2018
Others called the behavior shameful and irresponsible.
Kim has since deleted the post from her Instagram page, but, has not commented on the situation or backlash.