There has been a storm around Sophie Elise Isachsen (28) in recent days, after she published a picture on Instagram to her 581,000 followers at the weekend.
In the picture, she poses with an influencer friend, and in her hand the friend holds a small bag with what looks like white powder in it.
The image was quickly removed, but has since resulted in heated debate, partly as a result of Isachsen’s role in NRK.
The Broadcasting Council received over 2,400 complaints on Thursday, as Isachsen is known to be a podcast profile on the state channel.
Freezes launch
According to the plan, next week Isachsen should have launched his new brand, a candy line carried by Rema 1000.
Good evening Norway has been confirmed that the launch is now frozen.
Last week, the influencer promoted the vegan candy. Photo: Instagram story /@sophieelise
According to Good Evening Norway, Rema 1000 is said to have sent out a message internally that they are choosing to “freeze the launch” and that the sugar products with the name Candy Girl are “blocked for sale in boxes”.
Hege Rognlien in Rema 1000 confirms to God kveld Norge that the postponement is a consequence of the sharing of the controversial Instagram photo.
– The current situation is unclear. Therefore, we have chosen to delay the launch until we know a little more.
She confirms that it is still uncertain whether the products will be sold or not.
– Because the situation is as unclear as it is, the launch has been temporarily put on hold.
– We will make a further assessment with our supplier Scandza, she says.
Good evening Norway has repeatedly tried to get a comment about next week’s launch from Isachsen and her manager, without success.
Planned for a long time
In June last year, it became known that the influencer and brand house The Feelgood Company had applied for a patent for the name “Candygirl”.
Recently, Isachsen has advertised the product and searched for followers who wanted to taste test the vegan candy.
Next week, it was planned that the products would occupy the grocery shelves.
Good evening Norway has been in contact with The Feelgood Company, who refer us to Scandza, supplier of “Candy Girl”.
Media contact in Scandza, Sofie-Oraug-Rygh, says they have had a good dialogue with Rema 1000.
– This case has received an unusually large amount of attention in the media, and is unclear. We respect that Rema is putting the new launch on hold, says Oraug-Rygh to Good evening Norway.
Will affect the company
The Instagram storm has led to a scratch in the paint for Isachsen’s reputation, believes sociologist Trond Blindheim.
Trond Blindheim teaches marketing communication and consumer behaviour. Photo: Høyskolen Kristiania
– Companies that sponsor her will be a little more restrained now. Advertising on her profile, I think many people will balk at. Because they can easily be called up by journalists and asked critical questions, says Blindheim, and elaborates:
– Even if she gets more followers, it is the advertisers who keep her alive.
Criticizes the media’s cultivation
Talking about something bad or settling is a classic move in connection with the launch of a product, says communications advisor Hans-Petter Nygård-Hansen.
But he believes that will not be the case in the “white bag case”, as he refers to it as.
Hans Petter Nygård Hansen, communications consultant and technology expert. Photo: Martin Berg Isaksen / TV 2
– Personally, I would probably think that this creates many negative consequences for Sophie Elise. The number of hateful messages is increasing enough. Threats too. In addition to the fact that there will of course be many companies that may not want to lend their brand to Sophie Elise in the first place for influencer marketing. So it probably stings both emotionally and financially, he says.
Nygård-Hansen also refers to the news criteria journalists work according to: Materiality, Identification, Sensation, Actuality and Conflict. He believes that the K for conflict also means “celebrity”, “cool” and “critical”, and that it is important for the case to be read well.
– The fact that she is getting a lot of media attention now is not so surprising. Everything Sophie Elise does, which the media and social media can criticize, engages much more than if she does something positive for the environment or the animals, he says and adds:
– The positive is boring. It does not create as much commitment. Not as many clicks and page views. Not as much hate.
