Influencer Barters down Price at Saxby’s Claiming “Mutually Beneficial Partnership”

This week, Brooke Edelstein (C ’22) left the Monday morning line at Saxby's dumbfounded. “That’ll be 6.42,” chirped the barista after ringing up a triple shot dirty chai. To this, Edelstein responded “Look, I have a blog. I’d love to work something out.”

With close to 4K followers on Instagram and a regularly updated blog, Edelstein finds it in the best interest of her proprietors to discount her purchases. “Aside from my robust following online, my virtual literacy is just sort of superior to most. I mean, who knows what kind of business opportunities will present themselves to me day to day?” Edelstein muses, “I’m providing a point of entry for small businesses so there’s definitely a philanthropic aspect to the work. I’ve gotten more and more passionate about pursuing influencing as a career. I mean, businesses should really be paying me for promoting their products.”

Edelstein's work, however, is divisive amongst the student body. Kian Jacobs (C ’20) expressed frustration with the partnership, “I don’t see how it’s fair for this chick to get discounted coffee just because she runs some stupid blog.” Marketing concentration Julie Hudson (W ’22) commended Edelstein's efforts: “I think it’s a brilliant business approach. This girl is clearly leveraging her social capital to negotiate minimal expenditure. It’s incredibly strategic for her bottom line.”