ITNTW: Are We Really Saying Nup To The Cup?

Are we/influencers really saying Nup to the Cup?

We’ve well and truly entered the Spring Racing season, and the annual floral fashion and fascinators are flooding our Instagram feeds. With this fashion moment, however, comes the outrage towards the racing industry that’s only been getting stronger and stronger each year.

The Melbourne Cup, the race that once stopped the nation, has been critiqued for its ties with the gambling industry, and increase of cruelty cases with media showing the confronting crashes of overworked horses. However, many have also argued their reason for supporting the cup at the same time- whether it be the 79,000 full-time jobs provided by the racing industry (according to Racing Australia), or simply their love of horse racing. Either way, it’s an ever-increasingly controversial event to attend nowadays, with many high-profile celebrities and influencers being ‘cancelled’ for attending.

It may then come as a surprise to you that your favourite influencer attended this year’s Melbourne Cup- although you’d never know. According to Clare Winterbourn, founder of Born Bred Talent, many influencers who have attended in the past few years have a sneaky clause included in their terms and conditions of their signed contracts: that they cannot be photographed attending racing events, due to the controversial public association.

So, they could be sharing performative Nup to the Cup posts, straight from the marquees of the race they are being paid to show face at.

Abbie Chatfield, influencer and celeb, has shown her distaste for the races, and shared with her audience that she had been offered a significant amount of money by a brand to attend the cup which she turned down this year.

“Guys, I thought we were done with the races. I thought that wasn’t a thing anymore. Like, why are so many people going to the races? What the hell?”

From a PR perspective, we know influencers are just trying their best to keep up reputations with their audiences, while also maintaining their relationships with the brands they work with. But it’s important to note how one side will respond to their decision- and do influencers and brands really want that negative attention?

By Clare Fitzgerald – PR & Influencer Assistant at InsideOut PR and #AsSeenOn