Social media platforms such as Instagram are used for advertising purposes, although sometimes these ads don’t really come across as ads thanks to companies hiring “influencers” to promote them in a more natural manner. This could be as simple as them being seen in public using/wearing a product.
Unfortunately for one Instagram influencer, Luka Sabbat, it seems that he has been hit with a lawsuit for failing to promote Snap’s Spectacles. The company suing him is PR Consulting Inc., in which they allege that Sabbat had failed to live up to the contract that he had signed with the company where he was supposed to post three Instagram Stories, and a photo to his Instagram feed where he would be seen wearing te device.
Sabbat apparently only posted one Story and one post to his feed, and did not submit it to PR Consulting for pre-approval. He also apparently reneged on his agreement to be photographed in public wearing the device during the Milan or Paris Fashion Weeks, and as a result the company is asking for the $45,000 they paid to Sabbat upfront, and an additional $45,000 in damages.
Sabbat is not the first celebrity to be sued by a company for failing to promote their products, and we doubt that he will be the last. More recently there was an incident in which a Russian celebrity was sued by Samsung for using an iPhone and being caught on air doing so when she was supposed to promote Samsung’s phones.
Filed in . Read more about Instagram, Legal, Snap, Spectacles and Wearable Tech.