“I hired a pregnant girl.” With these exact words, pronounced in a video on Instagram on 13 November last, Martina Strazzer seems to have dug the pit alone. Yes, because that same girl, Sara,, after a fixed -term contract and the stabilization prospect, has not been renewed the assignment, without the reasons having been publicly clarified. And Sara herself, according to what she reported in the interview she gave to her journalist Charlotte Matteini, would not have received a completely satisfactory explanation.

The strength (and weakness) of digital entrepreneurs

But let’s take a step back: who is Martina Strazzer? A 25 -year -old young entrepreneur who, just nineteen, founded Amabile Srl, a jewelry company that has grown in a short time until he reached a multi -milionary turnover. His fortune was largely based on the wise use of social networks: Strazzer has in fact been able to build an Instagram profile of over 700 thousand followers, which has become the main showcase of the brand over time. In other words, she is herself the most powerful face and marketing canal of her company. This is the strength, but also the weakness, of many digital entrepreneurs: the destiny of the brand is insecribably linked to the personal image. Until the public appreciates, everything works; But a small false step is enough because trust collapses quickly.

The moral values

The risk increases when success is based on the ostentation of moral values. In the literature we speak of virtue signalling – literally “virtue reporting” – that is, the practice, widespread above all on social media, to express ethical positions more to build a good image than by real conviction. The case of Chiara Ferragni is still fresh in the collective memory and, apparently, has not made school. In the case of strozzer we do not speak of scams, but the question has some similarities. The Modenese entrepreneur, with the video on taking the pregnant girl, had in fact built a progressive and inclusive storytelling, which inevitably also generated a return of image for the brand. However, when the contract was not renewed, the affair was not communicated with the same emphasis and this, predictably, was interpreted negatively by its public.

The ostentatious virtue is often marketing

The point is not to determine whether the failure to confirm has been justified or not – a fixed -term contract may legitimately not be renewed – but the contrast between the built narrative and the subsequent reality. If you choose to transform a fact into a media in your favor, it becomes difficult to escape the consequences when elements that seem to contradict it emerge. It is therefore not surprising that the Instagram profile of Strazzer, usually very active, has been stopped for days. While that of Amabile published a press release only after a certain silence, without however, judging by the reactions, to be able to convince the followers. The double teaching is clear. For buyers, it is better to be wary of the moral idealization of influencers, because virtue ostentation often has a purely marketing purposes. For influencers, however, it is essential to remember that the more you build your success on an image of ethical superiority, the more you become vulnerable to any inconsistencies. The same enthusiasm that rises to the model can transform, with as much speed, into indignation.