Instagram/@alix_earle
With Alix Earle, the gang keeps it playful and invokes the sun to stay a little longer for this partnership with Hawaiian Tropic. The social media star posted something akin to a promo clip with a cheeky caption: “@ the sun, can’t you just do that daylight savings thing where you stay around a bit longer.” The post entered into light-hearted humor and has drawn mixed reactions from the audience-from all love to some raised eyebrows.
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Shotfulness for late glow lighting, and dramatic intonations come into play: “Hello, son. Where are you going? You actually can’t be studying right now,” before breaking into a smile. “Golden Hour is literally my favorite lighting. I thought we were friends. You can’t trust anybody.” The tone used was super-aggravated in a manner that satirized old-time commercials.
The reception has been mixed, honestly. A few users enjoyed how tacky it was, with one commenting, “An add I would never skip!” and another simply said, “so cute.” Clearly, the golden hour aesthetic struck a nerve for some commenters, another being, “we love a good golden hour,” followed by fire emoji. The tropical theme instigated another joke: “tropic like it’s hot,” merging the brand name with classic pop culture.
The majority of the public was not totally sold, though. “This is one of the cheesier ads. Kinda cringey,” expressed another member of the audience, not enjoying the deliberately cheesy franchise tone. An “utterly bizarre” comparison deemed it like “a reenactment from the movie piranha, where the young girl and her brother get stranded on an island.” The weird mention of a film left the rest of the followers confused.
More often than not, some comments would particularly target Earle’s looks and presence rather than the product itself, such as “okay she’s a Hawaiian tropic herself,” meaning this influencer is the sunny representation of the brand. A different plea from the commentaries was simply “Make advertising hot again,” insinuating that the post did garner attention by virtue of Earle’s own visuals, if nothing else. Shout-outs were directed to the influencer’s acting, with one commenter stating, “Acting era is so tea.”
More interesting was one commenter who said cute but where is Earle’s boyfriend, Ashtin? “Cute but where is my baby @ashtin.” The comment reveals to what extent Earle’s private life frequently enters discussions when tackling professional matters. Meanwhile, the strangely generic comment about waiting for DMs could’ve well been spam, an odd insertion within that swarm of heartfelt comments.
With this Hawaiian Tropic partnership, Earle is still working with big-name companies while maintaining the playful tone. She grew her platform on a mixture of very relatable content and very glamorous aesthetics, making her an easy fit for lifestyle and beauty campaigns. Whether or not somebody can get down with the overblown approach of this one, the overall engagement level is proof that Earle has still got the touch when it comes to instigating conversation-first respect or faux respect, whichever you want to call it.
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Earle’s content is just another example of how today’s influencers work overtime to inject their own worthless frivolity into campaigns. Steering into classic sunscreen commercials’ innate cheesiness with a sprinkle of her own humor and personality yields that nostalgic-modern vibe that totals Earle’s content. The varied reactions prove that many times in the influencer marketing world half-hearted applause is more relevant than unanimous approval.