Cillemouse likely to weather latest smart-glasses backlash

Influencers Cillemouse and Sus Wilkins have faced intense criticism over a commercial collaboration with Synoptik to promote Meta’s camera-equipped smart glasses, DR reports.

The glasses have been labelled “pervert glasses” in several places after being used to film people, particularly women, without their knowledge. Some of the recordings were later posted on social media.

The backlash became so severe that both influencers ended the collaboration and removed the advertisements from their platforms on Friday.

“I should undoubtedly have researched the product more thoroughly and taken a much more critical view of it,” Wilkins said.

Cillemouse, whose real name is Cecilie Haugaard, gave a similar explanation. She said the debate had made her more aware of concerns about the technology, particularly privacy and the risk of being recorded without knowing it.

“These are perspectives I take very seriously, and which I did not consider thoroughly enough when I entered into the collaboration,” she said.

Julemærkehjemmene, an organisation that had previously made Cillemouse its ambassador, also ended its collaboration with her on Friday, according to BT.

Not her first major backlash

This is not the first time Cillemouse has faced a major backlash. Earlier criticism focused on her book, Instagrim!, in which she criticised Instagram’s culture of perfection and its effect on people who compare themselves with the beautiful and successful people appearing in their feeds.

Many felt the criticism was contradictory because Cillemouse makes a living from Instagram, where she often shares travel, flawless skin, her husband Christopher and other things that may appear enviable.

With 350,000 followers, Cillemouse remains one of the country’s biggest influencers and can withstand a great deal while staying attractive to both companies and followers, said Nathalie C. Larsen, creative director at advertising agency Lead Agency.

“The intensity is not always an accurate indication of how broad a backlash is,” Larsen said. Some of the criticism has come from people who do not follow Cillemouse, while much of her core audience would likely defend their “friend”, decide that what she did was not so serious and continue following her, she said.

Larsen said she was surprised that the collaboration had not been recognised as a potential problem earlier.

“They have been asleep at the wheel. They should have realised that advertising glasses already dubbed ‘stalker glasses’ by the public was not going to make them extremely popular,” she said.

Followers also bear responsibility

Larsen said the situation showed that major influencers may be “too big to fail”, with a core audience that continues to support them regardless of how badly they behave.

She also said that following an influencer gives that person power, including influencers whom followers do not believe deserve it.

“Maybe we followers are somewhat hypocritical? We are ready to criticise in the comments, but we still want to be entertained. In that way, we keep the wheels of the attention economy turning,” Larsen said.

Followers often demand that others face consequences, she said, calling on brands to end collaborations, organisations to withdraw and influencers to apologise. At the same time, followers still want to follow the drama or see what clothes Sus Wilkins will wear the next day.

“Be a little consistent,” Larsen said.

Meta told DR News on Thursday that the glasses have several functions intended to protect privacy and safety. Every pair is equipped with a recording LED that flashes when a photo is taken or video is recorded. Meta said the LED cannot be switched off and that covering or damaging it deactivates the camera.

Traditional media outlets Euroman and Eurowoman have also removed advertisements for the glasses after facing the same criticism as Cillemouse and Sus Wilkins.