It did not take many hours from when DR News contacted DR Press until a TikTok video with a paid partnership for KitKat had disappeared from influencer Nicolai "Frommerjoe" From's profile.
The advertisement video was made on a major DR production, where Nicolai "Frommerjoe" From and his regular partner, Lucas Georg Christiansen, have a significant role. Therefore, the influencer decided to use DR's backdrop and, not least, host Josefine Høgh in the paid collaboration – without either knowledge or consent.
"Of course, you are not allowed to make any form of advertising in or in connection with a DR program. That is why, as soon as we became aware of it, we asked for the video to be taken down," was the reaction from Jan Lagermand Lundme, who is the responsible editor for the program.
From Nicolai "Frommerjoe" From and Lucas Georg Christiansen, an unconditional apology has been issued, particularly to Josefine Høgh.
Josefine Høgh has not wished to participate in the article.
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Has followed the industry for years: 'Remarkable'
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And the apology is especially warranted, according to Nathalie C. Larsen.
She is creative director at Lead Agency and has followed the influencer industry almost since its inception. So she has seen many unfortunate influencer collaborations. Yet she still calls Nicolai "Frommerjoe" From and Lucas Georg Christiansen's exploitation of the DR program "remarkable."
> It seems as if they haven't read their contract or haven't considered at all how such a recording works. It's pure Wild West.
"The most egregious part is that Josefine Høgh involuntarily becomes part of some KitKat advertisement. She lives off her credibility and being associated with the right things, so I would be furious too," says Nathalie C. Larsen, continuing:
"I think it's a really good example of the ruthlessness that characterizes parts of the industry. Like: 'The whole world revolves around my YouTube channel.'"
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The big channels need to get used to influencers
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Nicolai "Frommerjoe" From and Lucas Georg Christiansen are far from the first influencers to find their way into TV productions on "regular television." Rasmus Søndergaard, in the wake of his massive Sønderthon, has announced that he will get his own program. This year's Traitors cast also included several influencers, and the reality genre has long both used and spawned influencers.
And that will place demands on future TV productions if they want to avoid becoming an advertising pillar for a product through an influencer, says Nathalie C. Larsen.
"The more the big TV channels bring influencers into their productions, the more they need to get used to influencer logic, where you capitalize on each other's relationships and constantly see content opportunities."
Do you think this will be the last time we see a case like this?
"No, I definitely don't think so. And I actually think it's necessary if you want to reach a new target audience, but it also comes with the downside we see here," says Nathalie C. Larsen.
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'If it works, it works'
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Have DR and the production company been asleep at the wheel for this to happen?
"It seems as if these influencers are not properly equipped for the reality of recording a major program," says Nathalie C. Larsen, who also calls for "an adult" at AA Agency, the agency that works for Nicolai "Frommerjoe" From and Lucas Georg Christiansen.
However, she absolutely does not believe that absolves the influencers of responsibility.
"It seems as if they haven't read their contract or haven't considered at all how such a recording works. It's pure Wild West."
She also criticizes that the advertisement was only taken down the moment DR News contacted AA Agency and DR Press.
"If it works, it works," Nathalie C. Larsen states.
DR News has presented Nathalie C. Larsen's criticism to AA Agency, which is the agency for Lucas Georg Christiansen and Nicolai "Frommerjoe" From.
From their agent, Andreas Spange, comes the following:
"I understand the criticism, and I agree that we should have done better. We should have secured clear acceptance from Josefine before the video was even made – we did not, and that is our responsibility as an agency and creator, not hers."
"We have taken the video down and tightened our process so it does not happen again."
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.