As it turns out, YouTubers are the worst for tragic sponsored Instagram content

God bless YouTubers. They do so much for us, from providing hours of quality entertainment for free on a regular basis to cheering us up with various dramas and controversies, that they may as well be classified as key workers. And then you’ll notice when you venture over to their other forms of social media, they’re kind enough to take it all one step further by trying to pedal us products that we never even realised we wanted.

If the sarcasm of the previous paragraph was lost on you, then let this be a more succinct way of putting it – these reprobates will do whatever it takes to snatch money and, unsurprisingly, that often involves promoting products that they clearly have no real interest in. So, let’s take a look at some of the more cringeworthy ads that YouTubers have tried to sell their adoring fans.

Alfie Deyes turned full private investigator in his latest sponsorship with Sky

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEgxIfbheMl/

I’ve always said it. There’s nothing that makes you want to watch true crimes on Sky more than seeing Alfie Deyes looking like he’s in some sort of hungover daze laid out on his sofa.

The second sentence of this description has to be some of the most uninspired promotional copy to ever be posted on an influencer account, but it doesn’t seem like he got away with it. A heavy rinsing on Twitter followed, with one such mockery getting almost the same amount of likes as his original photo did.

It’s just funny that the photos literally make no sense without the text, and even then it’s just such an exaggerated and stupid scenario. Sorry Alfie, but you’re tacky and everyone hates you.

Oh, and Zoella has forever wanted to be a detective inspector, obviously

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEcBiR8hXgj/

Zoella never STOPS harping on about how much she wants to be a detective inspector in her vlogs! I mean, she’s always doing handcuff roleplay with Alfie and pretending her own dogs are part of the canine units, but it’s weird that this is the first time she’s put it into writing?

Whatever you do, make sure to “tag a friend who ALWAYS plays detective watching true crime programmes”. Jesus, there are so many people I could tag that I don’t even know where to start!

Jim Chapman also wants everyone to watch Sky with a totally unorchestrated “pub quiz”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-cn4zwh1c1/

There are a few things that we can learn from this sponsored post. Firstly, Jim and Sarah loved season one of Save Me Too so much that they are having a pub quiz to celebrate. Who’s reading the questions out then? If there was a quizmaster they wouldn’t have taken the photo themselves, just saying. Secondly, if any of the OG YouTuber gang were the sort to buy bottles of Peroni and pour them into a separate glass, it’s Jim Chapman.

I think the main takeaway from this is that some carefully placed peanuts, scrabble squares and SAVE ME TOO PUB QUIZ scribbled onto a large piece of paper aren’t as convincing as they’d have liked. Oh well, cheers to making little moments big x

Oli White reminds us that our lives aren’t perfect… on a beach in Mauritius

https://www.instagram.com/p/B76aCnDhyOn/

“Sometimes life really isn’t perfect and can be extremely overwhelming, and that’s exactly how I’m feeling right now in this completely unrelated picture of me and my girlfriend enjoying our £10k holiday in Mauritius.

“You probably need Headspace because you’re sad about not being able to who afford holidays to Mauritius like me and my fit girlfriend can. You’re actually paying for my Mauritius holiday which I made a Mauritius vlog about.”

Caspar Lee faces backlash for being paid to tell people to visit Saudi Arabia

https://www.instagram.com/p/B27AlaYHoQl/

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Wow, read the room, Caspar. He got rinsed in his comments section for this, and if you know anything about Saudi Arabia, it’s pretty clear to see why.

Going on an all-out assault on everything we know about the homosexual-persecuting, women’s rights-demeaning capital of the world, Caspar insists that the people in Saudi Arabia are “beautiful”. That may be the case, but for a mostly young, liberal audience to cater to, he really didn’t hit the nail on the head when trying to tell them to visit such a place.

Oli White punks his girlfriend with a fat KFC sandwich

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDCAjxBhNOE/

Okay, so KFC has come to us and they want to promote their latest deal, so how do we make sure it hits all the numbers they expect of us? Ah that’s right, crack out the girlfriend once more for the Instalikes.

Again, Oli White is just so good at creating sponsored content that literally has NOTHING to do with the product he’s supposed to be promoting and it’s actually hilarious.

Anastasia Kingsnorth wears shirts weirdly, pass it on

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCJG4vDD_F7/

I know what you’re thinking. Beauty and lifestyle YouTuber promoting clothing, what’s weird about that?

Well, the issue is with the shirt and the accompanying caption. What does this question even mean? Like, no, you don’t have to unless you want to, but why? Forever? WHAT?!?

From start to finish, this Caspar Lee skit for Domino’s is a car crash

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8V_hFHHMP2/

Whether it’s demeaning the foundations of his relationship through crass clickbait for a couple of grand from an overpriced pizza company, or the cringeworthy acting, this #ad is a masterclass in how to turn your viewers off. Couldn’t get the clicks yourself so had to get a girl in the thumbnail to get the likes up? That’s such an Oli White move.

Josh Pieters does EXACTLY the same as his mates Caspar and Oli with his KFC sponsorship

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDO9heZDf7t/

Oh for fuck’s sake. Now that I’ve picked up on the same old tactics employed in these sponsored posts by male YouTubers, it’s actually mildly enraging to see them used so regularly and without any creativity. Who signs off on these?!

HUR DUR MAN CHOOSE BETWEEN SEXY WOMAN AND FOOD AND HE PICK FOOD HA HA HA.

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