The Influencer Cash Ban, The Mesica Twin's Comment Section & Kayla Itsines' Ex Steps Down

point of ridiculous. Now. Over the weekend, the Aussie Bass brand posted a reel of a model going on what they described as a hot Girl walk and apparently the outfit in question was hot Girl approved by the brand. Now, there is definitely a lot to unpack with that caption alone, but shockingly, it was the outfit in question, which caught our attention. So the model was wearing high waisted tights

and a crop top, which sounds like a pretty normal outfit. However, it was topped off with a matching T shirt that was only pulled down halfway so to paint the picture. The T shirt had made its way over the model's head, but was only pulled down halfway over her body, so the majority of her crop top and breasts was still exposed. And many women in our community have joked that this

is what they look like when they're breastfeeding. Well, it actually reminded me on me and girls when they go and cut the boobs out of Regina George's singlet and then everyone starts sporting the look to show off their bras, and I just didn't get it. I was like, have they actually tucked the T shirt up like that? Or are they selling T shirts with I mean, I will not be buying one of them. Well, it seems that

white Fox's followers were also perplexed by this outfit. One wrote, tell me this is not how we're wearing T shirts now. Another said sometimes when I eat too much, I also get tired and just write it out Winnar the booster, whilst another said, I think you forgot to pull your shirt down. Surely it's more effort to keep it up like that than it is to wear it normally. I

thought it was bad enough that crop tops. You know, I've seen all those memes with women of a certain age asking where the rest of their T shirt is, and I, for one will be agreeing with this. I mean, okay, I'm getting crop tops now. I will wear them, and especially with high waisted jeans. However, I will not be showing from my bra right down to my pant line off.

I I just don't want to do it. The thing that I'm just so confused about with this look is that it's not even functional as someone as one of the commenters said, it's more effort to have this T shirt up by your boobs. It doesn't look particularly comfortable either. It's also not very sun smart, and I definitely don't think that I will be rocking this outfit. Get is why not just wear the sports bra by itself? Like,

what is the purpose of the other material? It doesn't even go past I do wonder what men think about this trend. The thing is, I feel like if you're very fashioned forward. You're actually dressing for other women, not men's approval. So I don't really think men are going to get this trend at all. But I don't think that that's why women are wearing this outfit. You can't say that this isn't for men. It really plays into the male gaze. I mean, the woman hasn't got a

T shirt pulled over her bra. Before we move on, I just want to go back to the caption because I found that whole hot girl approved comment really gross. And I know that when I go on a walk, I definitely don't look hot girl approved. I'm usually in really grotty active wear with messy hair, and I don't generally don't give a shit about what I look like. So I mean, I definitely don't think that I'm the demographic they're going for. But what do you guys think

about the whole hot girl approved comment. I'm not a fan of it at all. We've spoken about it on the podcast before. And you have to fit into a very niche category in order to be consider a part of this hot girl trend, and generally it's someone who is white and thin, and I just think that is totally not inclusive at all and not really a good thing to be pushing.

let's set up a call to discuss your salary. What the actual freakin' fuck.

we get into what we think about the rules now. Firstly, Kate, there seems to be some confusion around exactly what this rule means for influencers. Yeah, so initially it seemed like influencers weren't allowed to advertise certain health products at all, but that is not the case. So the new rules won't stop influencers from working with health product brands, but they will only be able to speak about the product's approved use and claims, and when they do so, they

must also clearly label it as advertising. So essentially, these sorts of ads will be very obvious and there's not going to be any issues around influencers making misleading claims about the product. Now. What the rule does do, though, is it stops influencers from being paid to provide their personal experience and testimonials on products, and it's important to

note that payment includes money, gifts, or other freebies. Now, influencers will be welcome to share their time testimonials, but can only do so if they buy the product themselves and gain nothing in return. That is absolutely huge for the influencer space because despite the fact that they can still engage with ads if they stick to very much a vanilla explainer of what the products are, that's not

what consumers want. Consumers look for influencers to provide a review and what they deem to be a genuine testimonial of the brand. Obviously, it's not necessarily going to be genuine because there is money exchanging hands, but those sort of reviews are at the heart of influencer culture and what influencers do. That's what they create their content around. See I personally think that this would have been bigger news back in twenty fourteen when influencers were at the

top of their game. People really loved influences, They really took on board what they said, and there was more authenticity around these reviews. However, these days, I think people can tell the difference between something that is genuine and something that is paid for, particularly when influencers now have to say whether it is or is not an AD

when they are talking about products. So while I do think yes, this is big news, I do think that there are loopholes where influencers will still be able to sprute products. They just have to very much stay within the guide. I feel like people are going to tune out even more from that type of advertising though, because it just reminds me of the ads you see on TV when you sort of walk out of the room so you don't have to watch them. I feel like we're going to tune out even more and it is

going to give influences less power. But I do think it is helpful, particularly in the space where it's really important to have the correct messaging going out about health and wellness products. I think it is a really positive move because there's so much misinformation in that space and

it's so dangerous. Yeah. Well, the TGA said that the changes were made because therapeutic goods should be chosen on the basis of clinical need and not through the persuasion of influencers, and the new code has made it very clear to advertisers of therapeutic goods that they must not engage influence is to provide testimonials. So it's going to be really interesting to see how things go on June thirtieth,

when this is not allowed again. I think it's important to have a look at the products that are covered by the rules, so influencers will not be able to give their testimonials on vitamins, supplements, protein powders, and skin products that make therapeutic claims. So these include acne related products or anti aging products. They also can't give their personal testimonials on skin lightning products, sunscreens, and general health

products and medicines. Now, I think it's this whole sunscreen aspect that has got a lot of people upset because I, for one, think that the rules are great, but I don't think that they should apply to suncream. That's so true, Kate, because in the past couple of years, I feel like we've seen this dramatic switch and people have been talking

more about sunscreen. We've seen our favorite influencers talking about the need to wear sunscreen and making it cool, and I think it's really sad that we're going to lose that because that's one positive thing that influences can provide a huge influence over well. Cotney Mangen, who is a sunsafe advocate and has fought melanoma four times, said, I'm extremely disappointed to see that sunscreen was included in the list of products. However, products like tanning accelerators and tanning

oils were not. I believe any discussion, paid or unpaid around sunscreen will help save lives, and that's the bottom line for me. I do not think that there are any negatives to talking about wearing sunscreen and that it's

only positive. There are already so many strict rules around when a company can even make a product that's a sunscreen, and then there are already so many guidelines around what you can and can't say when you are promoting a sunscreen already, so to make it even more difficult I think will be harmful because people won't be talking about wearing sunscreen as much as they should and we should

all be screaming it from the bloody rooftops. She went on to say, if it takes influences getting paid to talk about sunscreen, then I don't care what it takes, as long as people are talking about it. And if this therefore means that sunscreen w doon't be promoted and discussed as much, that just breaks my heart because there will be real life consequences for that discussion not happening.

Courtney has absolutely hit the nail on the head here because the TGA strictly regulates the manufacturing of sunscreen in Australia and those rules are amongst the strictest in the world. Okay, some people are saying influencers should promote sunscreen for free. But realistically, going forward, you think that this is something they're going to do. While I think there is a moral obligation, I think realistically influencers aren't going to be

promoting sunscreen for free. And the thing is, do we expect other big marketing systems like broadcasts to just promote sunscreen brands for free? No, we don't expect that from them, So why are we expecting it from predominantly young women who are trying to make money off the platform. Yeah?

I disagree there, Kate, because I think at the end of the day, influencers, in order for them to be successful, they also have to sell us a particular type of live style and put out a lot of genuine content and share about their lives. So I think that it would be a good branding move for many of them to continue promoting sunscreen because as a viewer and a consumer, if we know that they're not getting paid to do that, we then buy into a lot more of their messaging.

I mean, I don't think that's going to realistically happen, though, I think that on influencers are going to be promoting things that they're paid for, and particularly now, that there's going to be some confusion around what exactly they can say about things, And I mean the fact that it's going to be a lot of self reporting, so the general public are going to be dobbing influencers in and

then the TGA will review that claim. And I feel like influencers aren't going to want to be aligning their names with sunscreen brands in the case that they may have been sent one from Free a year ago and someone's going to try and catch them out. I just think, why not make it as easy as possible for influencers to promote something so good as sun safety and sunscreen.

I mean, it's already so regulated. It sounds like many people within the sunsafe community will be speaking to members of the TGA about this move and trying to overrule it because it just makes absolutely no sense. Yeah. Well, it's quite interesting because another influencer has weighed into the topic,

and that is Ruby Tuesday Matthews. Now, she said, whilst I completely agree for the need for more regulations, structure and accountability by brands and influencers within these industries, it makes me sad to think how many great small businesses and startups This will affect. She went on to say, it also blows my mind that we are targeting health and wellness brands encouraging a healthy lifestyle, but not alcohol

or junk food. Now, I think it's important to add that while Ruby's focus is on small businesses and startups, she does earn money from promoting these type of products. So recently she promoted a functional beauty snack with apparent anti aging properties, as well as superfood brands and cosmaceutical skincare brands. So it does seem to be that she

is pushing her own agenda slightly here. I mean, while I do think she is pushing her own agenda, I do think that there is a concern for many small businesses who do rely on influencer marketing because I don't think that they're going to be selling many products through these revised rules. They are going to be having to pivot and look at other ways to promote their products,

potentially through Facebook advertising, Instagram advertising, or public relations. And I do really feel for those who have started businesses with influencer marketing very much at the forefront. I mean, there's so many brands that spring to mind that use influencer promotions at the heart of what they do. I mean, think about JS health. I have seen so many influencers sprooking their products. What are they going to do now?

Are they going to be pushing everyday testimonials? Because they do have a good batch of those, but I do think they need to be propelled further by influencers, Like how do you get those everyday testimonials out to people? I suppose it will be a case of Facebook marketing and retargeting, but I wonder that's going to have the same effect. Well, what about the influencers, Because many people are questioning what long term effects this ruling will have

on influencers careers. What do you think, Kate? Look To be honest, I think that there is enough wriggle room in the rules at the moment that if they stick to a script, they are still going to be able to earn money for promoting a product. And I don't understand where these brands are going to go elsewhere because they still need to hit these influential people to get their brand out there. Okay, it's not going to be as genuine, but it's still going to be something. And

I think people already know the influencers promote products. I mean, maybe this could be the start of the influencer industry dying. Who knows, But there needs to be something that actually replaces it, and I don't know what that could be at the moment. There's also been a lot of questions about influencers who run their own business in the health space.

So someone like Georgie Stevenson, who runs protein and supplement brand Naked Harvest, is she going to be allowed to promote her own products talk about her own experiences with those products seeing as she has created the brand. Well no, because she's an influencer, like she is going to have to stick to the guidelines like everyone else, and there are going to be a lot of people in her boat.

I mean, there are so many health and fitness influencers that literally all they do is promote supplements and protein powders. I mean, Sarah's Day comes to mind, and I do wonder if these influencers are going to have to pivot. Maybe they're going to start wearing a lot more makeup than they used to and do reviews on their makeup that they're using. Maybe some of them are going to say, hm, I've got to get out of the health of fitness space.

Maybe I'm going to become a mummy blogger. Like I think that we're going to see a lot of influencers pivoting from what they normally do. What nothing. We haven't done anything if we saw it. No, we haven't been anywhere near your Facebook page. Oh, for fuck's sake, Well you've done.

and lifestyle advice across Instagram and YouTube. On Instagram, they've amasked a following of six hundred and sixty eight thousand followers. They also have two million followers on TikTok and four hundred and twenty six subscribers on YouTube. They also started their own fitness program called Meskier Twin Fit. So so it was the comments under their most recent YouTube video

which has garnered all the attention. Yeah that's right. Underneath the girl's recent video about their adventures in Hawaii, there were comments which really stood out and led to many people questioning whether the girls purchased YouTube comments. So seven of the comments underneath the video said ah, that was so esthetically pleasing to watch. I don't even know why. I love you guys so much. Hope you have fun now.

All seven of those posts also had the same grammar because there were no full stop, so they were the seven identical comments. There were also three comments that all said ash, your energy is radiating in this video. Love this video, and so grateful we get to follow this journey with you. There were also a further seven comments that said literally, love you guys so much. Such inspirations now. Those with all from different people, so different accounts of

posting these yes now. The names of those commenting also raised eyebrows because some of the accounts were called Janice fuck me, check my profile, Megan tap me to sex with me, Madeline, I am addicted to sex Madison, fuck me check my profile and the profile pictures accompanying these accounts were also of a pornographic nature, so they look like bot account What do you mean? These could be

genuine messier twin fans about now? I feel like most of us are aware that some influencers, particularly micro influencers or those looking to get noticed by brands, will purchase followers and even likes to try and build a name for themselves, but some people will be surprised to find out that this also happens for comments, particularly those on YouTube.

And the reason why people by YouTube comments is to increase their growth, status and engagement levels, while others do it to influence the perception of the business or brand. And it is really interesting because YouTube has a number of different metrics that it uses to rank videos, and

engagement is of course one of them. So if many people are finding the content interesting enough on a video, they will comment on it, so YouTube sensors that this comment should be seen by more viewers and consequently puts it out to more people. Therefore, if a video is receiving a lot of bought comments, that video will be favored by YouTube's algorithm. And put out to more people.

If I was a Mescier Twins, I'd be one a refund because they clearly haven't paid too much money to get these comments with those sort of names attached to the profiles. Do you think they selected the comments that they wrote because it sounded like something that I have seen stands writing on other YouTuber's walls. I mean, not seven times, but just the once. Well that's the thing. After doing a little bit of research on the topic, I found out that there is actually a difference between

purchasing real comments and bot comments. So purchase comments, which are apparently real are usually from freelancers, so they are made from humans and are less likely to be identified by YouTube's algorithm, whereas fake comments come from bots and they are usually a bunch of words jumble together which don't really mean much, or just generic things like follow

us for this. Yes, but there are many companies online who do sell YouTube comments, so these YouTube comments in question, they were probably not put out obviously by a genuine company that has a high quality service. The other theory is that potentially the girls are involved in an engagement pod, and we have spoken about them on the podcast before.

But if you haven't listened. Basically, they are a group of users that come together to like and comment on each other's posts with the purpose of gaining greater reach. So what happens is someone will share a link in the group and urge the people in the group to go and like the photo and also comment, and sometimes people will give examples of the sort of comments they'd like users to share. Surely they're not doing that because

they are so big on social media. Surely someone would screenshop, but also with the account names as well, Like I think it would be more, you know, if it was all of because engagement pods are usually all the people are in there for the same reason, they want to become influencers, and they're all sort of the similar demographic. This seems a little bit odd, yea. But the thing that is odd is the fact that the comments really relate to the girls. The girls being inspirational includes their name.

So perhaps they have employed a social media manager or someone to increase their engagement online, and either the manager has gone and bought very cheap comments, or the manager is engaged in one of these weird engagement posit or doesn't really make sense. I've always thought, what is there to stop another arrival? Influencers say, purchasing fake comments for another one, because all you have to have is the

person's username. So someone could go, oh, I want to make the Mesciar Twins look bad, I'm I'm going to purchase some really bad bot comments on their account. Well, another reason that some influencers do purchase comments is not to increase engagement, but it's to flood out negative comments.

So if someone if an influencer has had a controversy lately, and the whole comments section is filled with negative hate field comments, they might not want their advertisers or sponsors to see it, so they will pay for a whole load of people to leave glowing reports of how much they love the person and how much their influence by them.

So potentially this could have happened here as well. Or maybe they've just got seven Burner accounts and they didn't tell each other that they were going to be leaving the same comment. Well, I felt like if you had a Burner account, you probably wouldn't name it fuck me and all this sort of probably not She's the least

exciting to look at. Toby Pierce has announced he's stepping down from his role as chief executive officer at Sweat, the fitness empire he founded alongside ex fiance Kayla Itsinus now Amy. Many people are speculating the move could have something to do with both Toby and Kayla recently finding

love with new partners. Yeah, that's right. So so Toby went Instagram official with his new girlfriend, fitness influencer Rachel Dylan one month ago, and just a few weeks later, Kayla announced she was in a relationship with her former best friend Jay Woodroff Now. Toby's decision to step down comes less than a year after he and former fiance Kayla Estinas sold the business to US software giant i

Fit Health and Fitness. So in July last year, The Australian reported that Toby and Kayla received a fifty to fifty split of proceeds from the sale of Sweat, which was sold for a reported four hundred million dollars. And many people remember Sweat was of course known as a bikini body training company previously, which started in twenty thirteen, and this is when Kayla and Toby began selling ebooks.

So prior to Toby stepping down, there was a lot of discussion around whether Toby's relationship with Rachel Dillon could be a conflict of interest, and this is because Rachel also has her own fitness app called Move with Us. So Rachel's story is very similar to Kayla's in that she worked as a personal trainer and then launched an ebook. Rachel then created her own app and now has over

forty staff working for her. I'd be embarrassed to say it because I was very oblivious to who Rachel Dylon was, but she actually is worth a reported fifty eight million dollars, so extremely successful in her own right, and it seems like she doesn't need Toby's help as she is already such a big success, And from what I've heard around the traps in Adelaide, Toby is very much focused on new business ventures because he has already found so much success with sweats, so he may just be stepping down

to pursue other business opportunities. And I think Rachel would be quite protective of her own business, but it just isn't the best look at the moment because they do have competing fears app So there is obviously going to be a lot of speculation, especially in a small town

like Adelaide. Yeah, what's a complete conflict of interest? Really? Well, I personally think that Toby's announcement has nothing to do with his new relationship, because it's quite clear that these relationships have been going on for a lot longer in private. Well don't you think as a pr move though, that you would then want to announce it well into the future, you know, not like shortly after these relationships have been

made public. Well, the thing is, Toby indicated to the advertiser that him stepping down was part of the transition process to iFIT who have bought out the company, So it makes a lot of sense. And he told the newspaper that he had agreed to continue to do certain things that set the business up for future success, and he had already achieved those things, which is why he was stepping down. So he's going to be replaced as chief executive by Adam Kosh, who has been Sweat's chief

operating officer for the last three years. But Toby has confirmed he will be staying on as an advisor for the company. But do you think that this is all quite convenient that I fit have stepped in and you know, like it's quite it would be very awkward to be working closely with your ex fiance. I mean, they do share a child together, and from all reports they seem very amicable. But let's not forget that it does create a different dimension when you do add other partners in,

particularly one that has a competing fitness app. I really feel like this has a lot to do with Toby's decision to move on from Sweat.

in the background, so he can move on. And I do recall when they came out with this decision to sell part of the business to I Fit, that it was very clear on the statement that they would be staying on in their roles. So I do think it's quite convenient that they're using it as an excuse that

iFIT has now bought some of the business. I really think that Toby and Rachel must be the real deal though, because the fact that he is willing to leave such a profitable and lucrative business it says a lot, and they have been doing it long distance for a while. Toby is still staying in Adelaide as well, so I do wonder if Rachel's going to do a move over to Adelaide. The thing is, he's already made his two

hundred million or so from the business. He was only in that role to help it transition to the new owners. And as you touched on Sophie, he has confirmed that he is staying in Adelaide because there were rumors swirling that maybe he was thinking of moving because his Beaumont house is up for sale. It goes to auction this week. But of course he has just bought a five million dollar penthouse apartment in Adelaide, so it looks like he's

staying put now. On the topic of Kayla has seenus, I found this very funny because for a long time she has cultivated this social media following without giving too

many details about her life. But she is becoming more and more transparent with who she is and what she does, and I think a very important part of this was sharing her McDonald's order, because I remember, being someone that lives in Adelaide, there are always rumors going around about Kayla had seenus, and I remember people being like, oh my god, I saw her eating a boost bar at the supermarket and people acting like she's not allowed to

have any takeaway. So she's confirmed that she does in fact order McDonald's, which I think is fairly obvious, and her go to order is a large McChicken meal with fries, a coke, a small caramel Sunday and an apple pie. Refreshing? Is this after hearing Sarah's day's McDonald's order of a naked egg McMuffin. Yes, it was rather refreshing. I've got to note what are your go to McDonald's orders. We all have the same one. It has to be a steamed bun preferably a big macmeal with no meat in

the burger, and a coke zero. And I've trained Brandon to order this for me at the drive through. So I think that's all we've got time for today. Thank you so much for joining us for another episode, and if you want to join in on the conversation, head over to our Facebook community which has outspoken of the podcast community. Also, we'd love it if you could leave us a five star review.