Tarte’s Controversial Influencer Trip to Bora Bora Has Raised Questions About the Brand’s Inconsistent Values

Tarte, a popular cosmetics brand, has been investing heavily in organizing trips for social media influencers.

These trips include luxurious vacations to exotic locations where influencers are treated to lavish accommodations and exclusive experiences. In return, the influencers are expected (not told in contractual writing) to post content about these trips on their social media platforms, especially TikTok, in order to promote Tarte’s brand image and products.

The recent influencer trip organized by Tarte to invite creators to Bora Bora has been marred by controversy among social media users and marketers as of late, resulting in negative reception for the brand. A request for comment was not answered by Tarte.

There were 30 influencers (together with their plus ones) who were flown out from the United States for the brand’s Bora Bora influencer trip and they spent their time performing activities such as makeovers, snorkeling, jet skiing, relaxing by the pool and playing with dogs at the local animal shelter.

However, these extravagant trips seem to be losing their appeal among the Gen Z demographic, who are increasingly skeptical of such inauthentic experiences. Many young people now perceive these trips as lacking any real purpose other than to get the influencers on board with Tarte’s marketing campaigns. As a result, Tarte’s investment in these trips may no longer yield the desired results.

One of the influencers who attended the Tarte trip was able to share her experiences with us. She said she had a great time and created some cool social media posts. Nevertheless, she was concerned that luxury trips wouldn’t fit in with the values of Gen Z and Millennials, who value authenticity, transparency, environmental consciousness, and supporting social causes and issues (Read more AdBuzzDaily Creator Economy Stories here). 

“I’m all for Tarte doing cool stuff for influencers, but things have changed. Today, the audience they’re trying to reach is vastly different, and these trips won’t last forever if they aren’t profitable,” she said. “It’s bad that former influencers were treated so badly, but if Tarte repeats the same mistakes, they could slowly lose a big chunk of their audience.” This influencer witnessed no mistreatment of influencers or their guests by Tarte.

Daria Belova, Marketing and PR Director at HypeFactory, an AI-powered influencer marketing agency, pointed out that the trip contradicts the brand’s own values, which emphasize cruelty-free practices, sustainability, eco-friendliness, and naturalness. Belova highlighted that features such as a private jet, extravagant parties, and expensive villas are inconsistent with the audience’s perception of the brand’s values.

“For a brand to build trust, transparency and honesty are paramount. While many beauty brands rely heavily on influencer marketing, the key is not whether to use influencers but rather how to communicate effectively with the audience,” said Belova. “Influencers should act as brand ambassadors during the trip to maintain consistency between their actions and the brand’s messaging.”

In the past year, Tarte faced a backlash for its previous trip, with several BIPOC women influencers alleging they were treated poorly. The Tarte Island trip started it all, with influencers staying on Prince’s former island estate. Some guests received larger accommodations, while others received much smaller ones. However, some TikTokers also complained that the room assignments were racially biased.

Brands like Tarte will need to reevaluate their TikTok influence outreach strategies following a House bill that could ban TikTok in the US. A significant engagement metric has been recorded on Tarte’s TikTok account, according to RivalIQ data in 2024. Each video Tarte posts receives over 207,000 views shortly after it is posted, and over 13,000 engagements. Furthermore, Tarte’s TikTok account gains several thousand new followers with each new video uploaded, indicating a strong and rapidly expanding presence.

Joseph McConellogue, CEO of Swell Media, highlighted that there is a serious gap in knowledge regarding influencer marketing. Unlike paid media channels, which have well-defined processes, best practices, partners, and tools, many brands and agencies utilizing influencers are still relying on guesswork. It is crucial to educate oneself on the best practices for influencer marketing to avoid poor results and wasted resources.

“When seeing stories like this one, it’s clear that the rigor behind influencer marketing just isn’t there yet, at least not at scale,” said McConellogue. “Until then, brands and agencies must work together to implement improved processes for influencer and creator marketing strategies.”