Will influencers also go on strike?

Hollywood actors went on strike. Many social media influencers have joined them. So what’s going to happen now?

SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, has allowed select content creators to participate in its influencer program since 2021. And many influencers work directly with movie studios and other Hollywood entities, who pay them to promote shows and movies, whether on TikTok, YouTube or the red carpet.

Well, not anymore.

This week, SAG-AFTRA announced specific guidelines for influencers during the strike. The rules are broad. Influencers are advised not to “accept new work for promotion of affected companies or their content.” That means no TikToks about Barbenheimer or walks on the red carpet for “Meg 2: The Trench.”

And SAG doesn’t care if influencers get paid for those posts or not. All strike work posts are considered crossing the picket line. An influencer filming a “Get Ready With Me” video by donning a pink dress and going to the theater to see “Barbie” could be in violation – and anyone deemed to have crossed the picket line will be barred from participating in SAG in the future.

A number of the makers I spoke to this week see union membership as a goal they don’t want to risk.

Creators are divided. Some have gone full Norma Rae, vocally rejecting lucrative deals and encouraging their viewers to support the strike. Others have no interest in joining SAG and will probably just keep going, or they doubt the repercussions will ever come.

“I just think that’s an empty threat,” Jessy Grossman, founder of the Women in Influencer Marketing networking group, told me. “Maintaining that will become impossible.”

Erin Orsi, a self-described “little content creator,” went a bit viral on TikTok after announcing that she turned down a potential $5,000 sponsored partnership from a company partnered with a major superhero franchise. For Orsi, who has just under 20,000 followers, that’s a lot more money than she’s usually paid to post. Still, she took a pass.

“I’m trying to make this my full-time thing,” Orsi said. “I don’t know what the future will bring. I wouldn’t want to close the door on an opportunity to join the guild.

Darcy Michael, one half of the comedy duo Darcy and Jer, told me a network offered him a $25,000 sponsored deal in the days leading up to the strike. He was initially interested, especially given that the rate was higher than usual for such work, but eventually declined to pursue it further after realizing that the impending strike was likely the cause of the rate increase. (Michael lives in Vancouver and is in ACTRA, the Canadian equivalent of SAG-AFTRA.)

“I told my team I thought ‘in no uncertain terms until the strike is over’. We don’t cross picket lines,” said Michael.

“I also just feel that this strike in particular is monumental for all industries,” he added. “I think we are leading the way in ensuring workers are protected, especially against AI intervention. If it means pinching our pennies for a few months, then we’re going to watch our pennies.”

Influencers who indicated in videos that they intended to ignore the guidelines found the online response quick and sharp. At least two entertainment creators, including @collinnurrmom and @straw_hat_goofy, have already removed such videos. The latter now has a “SAG-AFTRA Strong” image as his TikTok profile picture.

“I spoke up on my page way too early and upset a lot of people,” Collin Everett, aka @collinnurrmom, wrote in an email when I asked him about the now-deleted videos. “I don’t think I have scabs,” he added.

Some small makers are just confused. Rosa Romero runs a TikTok page featuring memes about TV shows, including “The Bear” and “Succession.” “It’s very hard for me to categorize myself as an influencer in this field,” Romero said. “It’s really just my personal page that accidentally had 11,000 followers.”

Romero emailed SAG-AFTRA asking if it was still OK to post about movies made before the strike took effect (particularly “Barbie”). Still, Romero worries that this could lead to backlash online. “Any question or clarification is treated as if someone is trying to cross the picket line,” Romero said. “It’s just a shame.”

John Monterubio, a senior counsel at Loeb & Loeb LLP who advises influencers and advertisers, said the company had been answering questions from influencers and brands about how the strike would affect them.

People who are not members of the union and do not intend to join must make a decision, Monterubio said. “They’re not legally bound in any way,” he said, “but they have to think about the consequences of their decision going forward.”

Influencers aren’t the only ones confused, he added: “The various similarities are quite complicated, even for lawyers to figure out.”

Internet candy

Here’s what else is happening online this week.

This section is now only about ice cream

I promise, we have non-dairy interests. Even though we wrote about milk-themed beauty last week. And Grimace milkshakes the week before. Sometimes there’s a TikTok trendlet that’s just too good not to share.

See this genre with ice cream parlor workers hurling frozen desserts at each other. The format goes like this: a customer tells the cashier that they got the wrong order. The cashier apologizes, then turns and launches the wrong order at a colleague’s face. Splat! (Don’t keep reading if you didn’t watch the video with your sound on. The sound is crucial.)

What appears to have been started by a few kids crazy about their summer jobs has been eagerly adopted by ice cream parlors across the country. Sellers in Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma have all jumped on the trend.

If you’re behind the counter of a Dairy Queen, don’t forget to duck.

Do you have feedback? Send me a message at iho..

You can also follow me on Twitter (@4evrmalone).

Callie Holterman contributed to this newsletter.