Should influencers set an example by wearing a mask?

Mayadorable and Sundy Jules during their trip to Disneyland -

• On October 18, YouTuber Sundy Jules posted a video in which he is seen on a trip to Disneyland Paris.

• Problem: in most of the clips from his vlog, he and his friend do not (or badly) wear the mask.

• "We can afford not to wear it if we explain why", analyzes Stéfani Fiori, social media strategy coach.

Screaming in fear, taking a picture of yourself with a smile in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, crowding in the queues, so many little joys that have delighted millions of visitors to Disneyland Paris for almost 30 years. .

But since the Covid-19 has interfered in our lives, the cries are stifled by the mask, the smiles hidden by a piece of blue fabric and the rows much more sparse.

Health constraints that the influencers Sundy Jules and Mayadorable obviously struggled to integrate during their last trip to the amusement park.

"We didn't know it was forbidden forbidden"

In "My first date", the 19-year-old YouTuber films his trip to Mickey's house with his friend, but a big detail has attracted the attention of Internet users: the wearing of the mask, generally little respected in the images of Sundy Jules .

If we wanted to play the game of apothecary accounts, the two influencers show their day in the grounds of the park in a montage of four minutes and thirty seconds.

During this time, they wear badly (under the chin or under the nose) or not at all their mask for more than three minutes, that is to say 70% of the time.

On social networks and in the comments of the video, some do not hesitate to point out to them.

Faced with criticism, Sundy Jules redirected his subscribers to the end of the video, where he explains his non-wearing of the mask at certain times.

“At Disneyland, you are not allowed to remove your mask even for a photo or video.

We kept our mask on for the attractions, in the queue, all the time.

Just when we made a video, we lowered it a bit.

We did it in the video, and we don't have to.

We just wanted you to hear us better, we didn't know it was forbidden forbidden, ”he said.

A concern for communication (and honesty)

This offense against health constraints is one more stone added to the commonplace that requires all influencers to believe themselves above others.

The reactions are numerous especially as the rules are regularly reminded in the aisles of the site.

"Whether you are an influencer, a Disney employee or an average visitor, you have to wear the mask as soon as you enter the grounds of the park", insists on the side of Disneyland Paris, which even tells

have been alerted to the existence of this video by visitors concerned about compliance with the protocol.

For Stéfani Fiori, social media strategy coach, influencers must set an example with a minimum of ethics, especially when their audience is young.

“Most people can be blinded and take what the influencer is doing as an example.

If he allows it, why can't we?

She asks.

Whether their subscriber count is 1,000, 5,000 or a million people, vigilance must be the same.

Where the two friends made a mistake in their video was in the honesty they did not show in front of their audience.

As a reminder, Jules tries to explain that they kept their mask "for the attractions, in the queue, all the time" while the images show him wrong three minutes earlier.

“We can afford not to wear it if we explain why,” notes Stéfani Fiori.

As Anne-Sophie Lapix did at the start of the interview with Emmanuel Macron on October 14, the influencers should have explained to their audience why they did not wear the mask upstream.

The best awareness campaign possible?

However, this incident should not have serious consequences on the image of Sundy Jules and Mayadorable.

Because if many subscribers have noted this breach of the rules, they are ultimately only a drop in the ocean of reactions that garnish the comments.

“This will not affect his image, notes Stéfani Fiori.

Not at the level of young people in any case because they are irreducible, they are rather blinded by the girlfriend and the trip.

"

Elsewhere than in France, influencers are asked to set a good example.

A few weeks ago, the Quebec government approached seven instagramers and youtubers to promote the wearing of masks.

The same goes for Italy, where Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte contacted influencers last weekend to get the message across to a generation that doesn't watch the news.

Thus, the blogger and stylist Chiara Ferragni promoted the mask on Tuesday on her Instagram account followed by more than 21 million people.

However, wouldn't the message get better thanks to the mistakes of Sundy Jules and Mayadorable?

"For an awareness campaign on wearing a mask, we could not have done better as a video, with a little bit of controversy," smiles Stéfani Fiori.

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