Chiara Ferragni’s empire is on thin ice due to a fake charity campaign

After having built a multimillionaire empire on her image, Chiara Ferragni is facing a loss of prestige due to a controversial, falsely charitable campaign that has earned her a fine of €1 million ($1.1 million) for “incorrect commercial practices” and forced to issue an apology through a video published on social media.

Last year, the influencer teamed up with the candy company Balocco to launch a pandoro (a typical Christmas cake) with the Ferragni logo, priced at €9 (almost $10), triple its usual price. The box of the product claimed that their sale would translate into a donation to the Regina Margherita pediatric hospital in Turin, but in reality, the donation, of €50,000 ($55,000), had already been made by Balocco alone before they even went on sale, and Ferragni pocketed €1 million with that campaign.

In a video published on Instagram — the social network that elevated her and where every day she promotes her own and other brands, as she shows off her luxurious life — Ferragni apologized for having made “a communication error” regarding the pandoro and announced that she would donate the million euros she had taken to the Turin hospital. That is the last post on her account, where an unusual silence has reigned for days.

However, far from subsiding, the storm has intensified, and the Italian influencer — one of the most followed on the planet — is in the eye of a hurricane that is threatening her empire of 30 million followers. This is the first significant setback for Ferragni, who was used to being on a steady rise at the helm of a well-oiled machine, garnering collaborations and sponsorships that in 2022 generated profits of more than $10 million with her image alone.

These days, other cases of dubious charity campaigns are coming to light, several sponsors and companies are withdrawing from their collaborations, she is experiencing the greatest loss of followers since her influencer career took off and her movements are being investigated by the law. Thin ice for this 36-year-old Milanese businesswoman who started her fashion blog, The Blonde Salad, in 2009, made a fortune, became the subject of study of a master’s degree at the Harvard Business School and who, until now, had turned everything she touched into gold — like the water bottles she sells with her logo for €8.

The prosecution is investigating two Easter egg campaigns, sold in 2021 and 2022 by the Dolci Preziosi company, wrapped in her classic pink color and with her logo, which promised to contribute to a charitable project in favor of the inclusion of children with autism. While the campaign raised more than €1 million, the donation has been found to amount to only €36,000. The investigators are trying to find out if this was a commercial operation disguised as charity.

Meanwhile, Safilo, an Italian group specialized in high-end eyewear, has announced that it is breaking its collaboration with Ferragni, “following the violation of contractual commitments undertaken by the brand owner,” as explained in a statement. The company, owner of brands such as Carrera and Polaroid and designer of others such as Carolina Herrera and Jimmy Choo, has not specified what contractual violation the statement refers to.

Although her legion of followers is immense, reaching almost 30 million all over the world, in the week after the Balocco case broke, the Italian lost approximately 90,000 followers, 0.3% of her community. DeRev, a firm specialized in digital strategy and communication, analyzed the data from Ferragni’s social media accounts for the newspaper la Repubblica and found out that “contrary to what one might imagine, the downward curve of followers has not subsided since the video apology; in fact, it has become even more pronounced. Especially in terms of Instagram audience, this represents the first real setback for Chiara Ferragni, and the largest hemorrhage of followers in the history of her account.” They also highlighted that, in general, the comments left by users on her latest posts are negative, especially in the commercial collaborations section, where she advertises different brands. These notes are significant, considering that social media is the cornerstone of the Ferragni empire.

The case has caused such a stir in Italy that, in addition to being prominently featured in the information and opinion sections of most newspapers and in television shows, it has also reached the field of politics. Even Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attacked the influencer in one of her speeches (without mentioning her directly). While the politician highlighted the government’s activities in the past year and criticized the opposition, she launched a harsh attack against Ferragni: “The true role models are not the influencers who make fistfuls of money by wearing clothes or showing bags, or even promoting very expensive cakes with which they make people believe they will do charity, but whose price only serves to pay hefty fees. The true role models are those who invent, design and produce that Italian excellence,” said the prime minister, raising her voice, at an event organized by the youth of her party.

Giorgia Meloni took advantage of the news of the pandoro and Ferragni’s notoriety to generically discredit the work of influencers, which, according to her, is less noble than others because it “promotes” objects instead of “producing” them. Her direct attack on an Italian businesswoman like Ferragni was also widely criticized, however, for being considered inappropriate.

Chiara Ferragni has not responded to the affront, but the rapper Fedez, the influencer’s husband, said on social media that he found it strange that Meloni chose to attack those who work online instead of focusing on political issues. “Did she talk about youth unemployment? No. Did she talk about the financial maneuver they are doing with their asses and that they haven’t finished yet? No. Did she talk about the country’s fiscal pressure? No. ‘Be wary of people who work on the internet’: that is our prime minister’s priority,” the singer ranted.

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