Influencers Cillemouse (Cecilie Haugaard, ed.) and Sus Wilkins have been heavily criticized for their commercial collaboration with Synoptik, which was meant to promote Meta's "smart glasses" with a built-in camera.
Read also: 'Stalker glasses' and 'surveillance glasses': Advertisements for new tech glasses face fierce criticism (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/stalker-briller-og-overvaagnings-briller-reklamer-ny-tech-brille-faar-heftig-kritik)
The glasses have been dubbed "pervert glasses" in several places (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/09/i-kept-catching-people-giving-me-dirty-looks-the-backlash-against-meta-smart-glasses), as they have been used multiple times to film people, particularly women, in various situations without their knowledge, after which the videos were posted on social media.
The backlash has been so severe that both influencers terminated the collaboration on Friday and removed the advertisements from their platforms.
"I should undoubtedly have done more thorough research and taken a far more critical stance toward the product," Wilkins stated.
> Maybe we followers are a bit hypocritical? We are ready to criticize in
> the comments, but we still want to be entertained. And in that way, we
> keep the wheels of the attention economy turning.
> Nathalie C. Larsen, Creative Director
A similar explanation came from Cillemouse:
"The subsequent debate has, however, made me more aware of the many concerns that come with the technology, especially regarding my privacy and the risk of being recorded without knowing it. These are perspectives I take very seriously and which I did not consider thoroughly enough when I entered the collaboration."
Nevertheless, the Julemærkehjemmene (Christmas Seal Homes) decided on Friday to end their collaboration with Cillemouse, who had previously been an ambassador for them. This was reported by BT. (https://www.bt.dk/danske-kendte/nedturen-fortsaetter-cecilie-haugaard-faerdig-som-ambassadoer-for-julemaerkehjemmene)
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Not the first major shitstorm
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If you have followed influencers' activities over the past few years, this is not the first time Cillemouse has faced a shitstorm.
Read also: Model and influencer attacked for living off the perfection culture she herself condemns (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/model-og-influencer-angribes-leve-af-den-perfekthedskultur-hun-selv-fordoemmer)
Back then, the criticism was that in her book *Instagrim!*, Cillemouse criticized Instagram's "perfection culture," which caused feelings of inferiority when comparing oneself to all the beautiful and successful people appearing in one's feed.
However, many found that a bit too much, as Cillemouse makes a living from her Instagram, where she often shares travels, perfect skin, her husband Christopher, and many other seemingly enviable things.
Cillemouse visited *Deadline* back in 2024 to talk about her book, *Instagrim!*.
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'The intensity is not always indicative of how widespread a shitstorm is'
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But when you, like Cillemouse with her 350,000 followers, are one of the country's biggest influencers, you can get through a lot and still remain attractive in the eyes of both companies and followers.
That is the assessment of Nathalie C. Larsen, who, as Creative Director at the advertising agency Lead Agency, has followed the influencer industry almost since its inception.
"The intensity is not always indicative of how widespread a shitstorm is. Some of the criticism has come from people who don't follow her. A large part of her core audience will probably ultimately stand up for their 'friend,' think that what she did isn't so bad, and continue to follow her," says Nathalie C. Larsen, who at the same time wonders why it wasn't foreseeable that the glasses collaboration would cause problems.
"I think they were seriously asleep at the wheel. They should have seen that you don't become wildly popular by advertising a pair of glasses that the public had already dubbed 'the stalker glasses.'"
I almost get the impression that the big influencers are "too big to fail"? That no matter how much they mess up, they always bounce back?
"Yes, I think that's how it is with celebrities in general. They have their core audience that will always support them," says Nathalie C. Larsen.
Nathalie C. Larsen (Photo: © Private photo)
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Maybe we followers are a bit hypocritical?
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She also reminds us that by giving a "follow," we help give influencers power—even those we deep down feel don't deserve it.
"Maybe we followers are a bit hypocritical? We are ready to criticize in the comments, but we still want to be entertained. And in that way, we keep the wheels of the attention economy turning."
"Followers rather demand that others face the consequences: Brands should drop the collaboration. Organizations should withdraw. The influencer should apologize. The platforms should take responsibility. But we ourselves still want to follow the drama or see which new clothing brand Sus Wilkins is wearing tomorrow," says Nathalie C. Larsen, before offering a piece of advice:
"Be a bit consistent."
Meta told DR News on Thursday that the glasses are equipped with various features to ensure privacy and security.
"All pairs are, for example, equipped with a recording LED that lights up when you take a photo or record a video that you can save or share. The LED cannot be turned off, and if someone covers or damages it, the camera is deactivated," Meta stated.
Also, more traditional media such as Euroman and Eurowoman have had to remove advertisements for the glasses after facing the same criticism as Cillemouse and Sus Wilkins.
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.