Influencer faces backlash after judging someone’s food shop

An influencer has been criticised online after she sharing her thoughts on someone else’s food shop choices.

Taking to TikTok, user @olympiaanley posted a video in which she recalled the moment she saw someone at the grocery store take home a whole lot of “junk food”.

“I don’t want to offend anyone with this video,” she started, “but we live in a society that has normalised and literally encourages treating the symptom and not the cause and I want to talk about it.”

As she continued, she admitted that she was “quite snobby” about other people’s food shops, explaining that she was “not proud of” it.

You can watch the clip below: 

https://www.tiktok.com/@olympiaanley/video/7221639375010925829

The 20-year-old said she saw a woman in front of her at the store “loading on all this junk food”, which included “white bread, crisps, Pot Noodles, all that kind of stuff.”

“Just for context, she might have been having a party. I don’t know if she was going to eat it or who the food was for,” she added before continuing: “And also, a whole lot of medicine, like pills, sachets. I could not believe it.

“It was so paradoxical for me. And again, no judgement and I don’t know her personal situation, but it really spoke to me about how we don’t pay attention to what we put in our bodies enough and then we numb it with drugs so we can’t feel what’s going on inside,” she stated.

The video has been viewed over 1.5 million times and garnered a lot of attention in a short space of time, with many highlighting the 20-year-old’s comments as unnecessary, especially considering the current cost of living crisis that’s sweeping the nation.

We’re all well-aware how much society is feeling the pinch right now, given we’re facing the highest inflation rates since the early 1980s as well as spiralling energy bills which has left a lot of people living paycheque to paycheque in order to cover their expenditures.

As per a study conducted by PWC, 86 percent of people are “concerned” about day-to-day living costs,  and just over half (54 percent) are saying they are “very concerned.”

So, with this in mind, it’s hardly surprising that people are having to revert to cheaper options when it comes to their weekly shops.

Social media users were quick to criticise the video as “tone deaf” and “classist.”

Since the backlash, the content creator has disabled the comments on the video, as well as newer videos posted to her account. She has also removed the ability for people to stitch the original clip.

However, as reported by the Independent, some people already had their say about the issue including other unimpressed TikTokers.

Simone Rowley told her followers: “I wish we could all live in the world that Olympia lives in, she’s able to buy all these fresh fruits and veggies… I wish I lived in a world where I could just chuck things in my trolley and not have to worry about the consequences of my bank after.”

Another user, Robyn Flight, said in a separate clip: “We are in a cost of living crisis. My family can’t afford to buy fresh food, we have to go to the food bank because there is just no way we’d be able to afford that.

“But when we walk around the supermarket we don’t want to show what we’re buying, because it is embarrassing, you’re buying this tinned food but that’s all you can afford.”