Consumer backlash ushers in an era of accountability for influencer marketing

Two of Southeast Asia's most pressing social issues - youth vaping in Indonesia and online gambling in the Philippines - have emerged as unlikely flashpoints for influencer marketing.

In recent weeks, the backlash against Indonesian creator Bigmo over his alleged involvement of minors in a vape promotion and criticism of Filipino actress-influencer Ivana Alawi's gambling-linked giveaway have revealed something far bigger than isolated social media controversies.

Public conversations quickly broadened into wider debates over ethical advertising, raising concrete questions about where responsibility lies when creators promote regulated or sensitive products, and how far brands should go in vetting creators, their audiences and the content they publish.

For brands, the issue is no longer simply how many people a creator can reach, but whether that reach comes with the right safeguards.

As influencer marketing matures, transparency, audience suitability and responsible execution are becoming increasingly important to protecting the reputations of both brands and creators.

Don't miss: Indonesia probes YouTuber Bigmo over alleged involvement of minors in vape promotion

That changing landscape is reflected in new analysis from media intelligence firm CARMA, which found that both controversies generated predominantly neutral-to-negative online conversations despite centring on different sectors.

Among the dominant themes were the protection of minors, transparency in brand partnerships, predatory marketing practices and the wider societal consequences of digital endorsements.

Perhaps more significantly, consumers aged between 18 and 34 emerged as the most vocal participants across both controversies, suggesting that Gen Z and Millennials are increasingly shaping expectations around ethical creator marketing across the region.

To understand what these developments mean for the creator economy and the future of responsible marketing, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to industry leaders, creators and advocacy organisations from across Indonesia and the Philippines.

Influence comes with greater expectations

Deden Purnamahadi, managing director of Crimson Agency in Indonesia, said the public increasingly views creators less as entertainers and more as trusted members of their communities.

"These two cases show us something important. Audiences now understand that content creators have real power and responsibilities," he said.

"When a creator you follow and trust talks about a product, especially something like vaping or gambling, people watch and listen differently than they watch and listen to a TV commercial."

That perspective is echoed by Christian Padilla, country head of Yazle Global in the Philippines, who believes audiences increasingly expect creators to exercise judgment alongside creativity.

"When promoting products related to public health or financial risk, transparency, ethical judgment, and protecting young audiences are just as important as reach," he said. "A campaign may generate views, but if it damages public trust, the long-term cost is far greater than the short-term benefit."

For Padilla, that responsibility extends well beyond creators themselves.

Brands, agencies, platforms, and creators all share the responsibility of ensuring campaigns are compliant, ethical, and appropriate.

Entertainment is becoming indistinguishable from advertising

The controversies have also reignited longstanding questions over whether creator-led storytelling has made commercial influence increasingly difficult for consumers to recognise.

Unlike conventional advertising, sponsored creator content is woven into entertainment, livestreams, community engagement and everyday conversations.

Padilla noted that traditional media would likely never have permitted similar executions.

"The line between content and advertising is increasingly blurred. Creator-led storytelling feels more authentic, making it more engaging and more influential."

Purnamahadi agrees. "When you see a TV commercial, you know it is a commercial," he said.

"But when a content creator talks about a product as part of their daily life or their story, it doesn't look like advertising. It looks like they are sharing something real with you."

Donald Patrick Lim, president and chief operating officer of conglomerate holding firm DCME Holdings, describes this phenomenon as a "commercial camouflage problem".

Audiences may lower their natural resistance to advertising because they do not immediately recognise that they are being marketed to.

According to Lim, disclosure labels alone are insufficient.

"The promotion still borrows the creator's personality, credibility and emotional relationship with the audience," he said, noting that regulators recognise how influencer content can blur the line between advertising and editorial, while the WHO has warned that influencer endorsements can make nicotine products more appealing to young people.

The Indonesian Youth Council for Tactical Changes (IYCTC) and Yayasan Lentera Anak, which advocate for tobacco control and child protection, have also raised concerns over the role of livestreaming in reaching younger audiences. They pointed to the algorithm-driven nature of livestream platforms and said creators can have significant numbers of children and teenagers among their audiences.

The groups said Indonesia's Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 explicitly prohibits the promotion of tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, on social media under Article 446.

The greater the influence, the greater the responsibility

Experts interviewed by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE consistently pointed to one reason why influencer controversies provoke stronger reactions than traditional advertising: relationships.

Creators cultivate years of interaction, familiarity and emotional connection with audiences that conventional campaigns struggle to replicate.

Padilla summarises the dynamic simply: "The greater the influence, the greater the responsibility."

Purnamahadi offers a similar assessment.

"A content creator is someone you feel close to. When that person tells you something, it feels like a friend giving you advice, not a brand trying to sell you something."

Lim argues that creator endorsements combine several behavioural drivers - including parasocial trust, social proof, aspirational identification and algorithmic amplification - that make them substantially more persuasive than conventional advertising.

"The higher the potential harm, the higher the required level of disclosure, audience protection and creator due diligence," he said.

Ethical marketing is becoming a competitive advantage

The findings also suggest brands themselves may need to rethink how influencer partnerships are evaluated.

Rather than relying primarily on audience size or engagement metrics, experts increasingly advocate broader assessments that include audience composition, creator values and reputational risk.

"Legal compliance should be the minimum standard, not the end goal," Padilla said. "Brands also need to ask, 'Is this the right message, for the right audience, delivered in the right way?'"

Purnamahadi recommends companies ask themselves a simple question before launching campaigns:

If this campaign blows up in the news tomorrow, can I defend it honestly?

Lim believes marketers should conduct what he describes as a "social-risk review" before engaging creators, examining audience demographics, product risks, creative execution and whether campaigns would withstand scrutiny from regulators, employees and parents alike.

"A campaign may technically comply with existing rules and still be ethically questionable."

A lasting shift, not a passing controversy

CARMA believes the two controversies represent something larger than isolated incidents. Consumers are increasingly evaluating creators according to their values, authenticity and understanding of the broader societal impact of endorsements - not merely their popularity.

The firm argues that brands operating across Southeast Asia should strengthen influencer governance through clearer ethical guidelines, stronger disclosure requirements, real-time sentiment monitoring and more rigorous vetting processes for partnerships in higher-risk sectors.

Industry leaders expect those expectations only to intensify.

Success, Padilla argues, will increasingly be measured not only through reach or engagement but through "credibility, audience quality, brand fit, and responsible behaviour."

Ultimately, the Bigmo and Ivana Alawi controversies point to a more uncomfortable reality for Southeast Asia's creator economy: the same intimacy and influence that make creators valuable to brands can also make misjudgements more consequential. As the commercial stakes grow, so too does the cost of getting that relationship wrong.

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