I have no problem with bloggers and influencers been gifted items.  I know how bloody hard they work and they deserve every freebie they receive.  What I do have a problem with is brands who push staged, planted and inauthentic campaigns.

I hadn’t planned on writing yet another post about the Dior Saddle bag (catch my first post about it HERE) but I wanted to address the controversy surrounding it.  As a luxury fashion lover and shopper I finally felt compelled to add my two cents.

The Saddle bag officially launched on Thursday 19th July amongst a wave of blogger controversy.  All day Instagram feeds were awash with images of high profile influencers touting their saddle bag and declaring their love for them.  It didn’t take a lot of detective work to realise Dior had manufactured an undeclared social media campaign.

It turns out Dior had gifted a bag to 100 influencers with the caveat they were “planning a huge digital moment on 19th July” and requested each influencer post images of their bag on launch day.  The problem came when only a small handful of bloggers declared the bag as gifted and only one blogger (Veronica Ferraro) labelled it as an ad.

I have no problem with bloggers and influencers been gifted items.  I know how bloody hard they work and they deserve every freebie they receive.  What I do have a problem with is brands who push staged, planted and inauthentic campaigns.  My issue is Dior tried to manufacture the Saddle as this year’s “it” bag via simulated means and ultimately, their end goal was to showcase how in-demand this bag is.  However, in reality it was all staged and faked.

I’m not naive, I understand how advertising works and that we’re all susceptible to a good marketing campaign.  However, when doing an influencer campaign, I strongly believe authenticity is key.  There is and always should be a distinct difference between an influencer and a model.  In this case, Dior took advantage of the trust consumers put in these individuals and tried to use it to their advantage.

A blogger absolutely has a responsibility to keep tabs on the campaigns they accept and declare them responsibly.  However, brands the size of Dior shouldn’t be pushing these sorts of campaigns in the first place.  If I was Dior, I’d have gifted the bag without any strings attached.  This way, if the influencer uses the bag, it is natural and genuine.

When it came to the Saddle bag I never advised buying one from the new collection.  If you caught my first post about the return of this bag (read it HERE) you’ll know I recommended buying a vintage one from the 1990s rather than splashing out on a new one.   I would still advise doing this if you can find an inexpensive one for £200-£300.

FYI my pink one is vintage and I purchased a new strap from Dior so I could wear it cross body.

As a result of this campaign, I would now also strongly advise exercising caution when getting absorbed in any hype around around Dior products because chances are it’s all manufactured!  Just make sure you buy something for the right reasons, e.g. because you love it rather than because it’s a “hot” item.

Don’t forget you can also keep up with me on Instagram @thatnewdress, Twitter @thatnewdress, Bloglovin That New Dress, Snapchat thatnewdress and Depop @dominiquew.

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Don’t forget you can also keep up with me on Instagram @thatnewdress, Twitter @thatnewdress, Bloglovin That New Dress and Snapchat thatnewdress.

Please note this post contains affiliate links. This does not affect you, the consumer, in the slightest. It simply means the retailer provides a small percentage of the sale to the individual who influenced the sale.

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70 Responses to “CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING DIOR SADDLE”

  1. Oh I really liked reading your honest thoughts about this whole controversy. I absolutely agree with you, Instagram has become such an inauthentic platform. Dior should have either chosen to make it an official campaign – it is obvious that some bloggers only post a pictures when they are paid so that’s okay – or just gift the bags to them and see how they would naturally style it and posting pictures.
    Said that, I have to say that I LOVE your vintage version dear, such a little cutie!
    xx, Carmen – https://carmitive.com

  2. Ooh a really great post, and something that I actually didn’t know. I think it’s so easy to get lost in the hype from influencers and youtubers, it can be difficult to know what’s really real anymore. I think your suggestion of gifting no strings attached would have restored the authenticity of this campaign.

    //teandtwosugars.blogspot.com xx

  3. this was an interesting post to read! I did notice that they were popping up all over the place and I figured it was advertisement even though it wasn’t stated. It does’t take away from their beauty though, because of it I started carring my Vuitton croissant bag, hoping that one will come back too! hahah

    http://www.prettyinleather.net

  4. Such a great post dear and I also followed the buzz around the Dior saddle!
    And I must say, the campaign definitely worked for me as I immeditaley got that feeling that “I need one – NOW”, too 😉 *lol
    So I also don’t like that Dior pushed the bloggers/ influencers and also, that most of them didn’t label the post as an advertisement – how it should be .

    So anyways – I love your vintage oen ! ANd would also never pay 1500 or more to get one from the new collection… I now invested in a Vintage Fendi and cant wait for it to arrive 😉

    Happy weekend ♥
    xxx
    Tina

    https://styleappetite.com

  5. Great post! It’s a really nice bag but what Dior did I guess it’s illegal in some countries – for example Germany where every product no matter if gifted or bought on your own, as long as if you can see a brand name or logo on a photo/post it has to be tagged as a brand – from what I heard from German bloggers. I’m so sorry that you had to deal with lots of shit due to the whole campaign but I hope that it’ll learn some brands and agencies in future to be true with consumers.

  6. I hadn’t even heard about this bag until you mentioned it. I agree that Dior shouldn’t have pushed this kind of undisclosed campaign and that gifting it to bloggers would have been the best choice. People value authenticity and honesty very much and it’s a hard thing to get back once broken. But that’s great that you found a vintage one! It gives it more character and makes it more unique.

    x Kara | http://karascloset.net/

  7. Thanks for sharing the saddle bag gifting story, that is outrageous and hilarious at the same time. I like the reissue saddle bag with a wide studded strap but I also like your pink vintage with the new strap. I like getting new straps too for my older bags, I just got my new Fendi ‘strap you’, hopefully, it will match nicely with my Lady Dior. Love your all black mini dress, you look awesome.

    http://www.busyandfab.com

  8. This was a really thoughtful post and I have to agree with you on all points. The push by Dior really wasn’t handled well and the end result was a rather off-putting unofficial campaign. That said, I adore the bag and am head over heels in love with yours!

  9. Your vintage bag is so cute! I don’t follow many big bloggers because of the reasons you stated – the smaller bloggers are much more honest and authentic with how they got things. It’s the law here you need to declare when things are sponsored or part of an advertisement, so it’s sad when people don’t think things like that are important to share!

    I hope that your week has been going well so far 🙂

    Away From The Blue Blog

  10. Wow! Never heard about this, but definitely appreciate you for posting about it. Definitely great advice to be cautious when choosing campaigns. That’s awful that they would do something like that just to get sales. And if I’m being honest, the bag isn’t really that cute to me. Love your look though babe.

  11. I wasn’t aware of this campaign that dior had, maybe because lately I was a bitt absent form the blogger world or maybe because I don’t follow bloggers that have wrote about it but I have to say that I agree with you, I have always hated the miscivious publicity. Anyways you came up with a great idea for all those who would love to try a similar product.
    Regards,
    Flo

  12. Totally agree a lot of the bigger bloggers have lost sight of being honest and transparent. If you accept something on the proviso you’ll post about it, it should be definitely declared xx

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