What do Chrissy Teigen, Chelsea Clinton, and Kylie Jenner have in common? They’ve all had beef with Snapchat over the last few months.
Over the weekend, model Chrissy Teigen became the latest in a growing line of celebrities to announce an exit from the platform. In tweeting her goodbye, Teigen cited the app’s unpopular update, the difficulties her fans have in finding her, and a Snapchat ad that seemed to belittle domestic violence by asking users if they would rather “Slap Rihanna” or “Punch Chris Brown.” (Brown pleaded guilty of assaulting one-time girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.)
Even though the company apologized for the off-color reference to domestic violence, the ad has not sat well with a number of public figures. Rihanna wrote a post on Instagram stories in which she criticized Snap for being dismissive of domestic violence claims and encouraged people to “throw the whole app-oligy” away.
Chelsea Clinton, former first daughter, also condemned the ad on Twitter, saying it was “awful that any company would approve this.”
Beyond doing reputational damage, celebrity outrage like Teigen’s presents financial risks, too. The company has already seen stock price declines twice this year after celebrities announced discontent with the platform. The company’s stock fell 5% after Rihanna’s statement on Instagram. In another instance, shares plunged 6% after Kylie Jenner said she didn’t like the app’s updated design and hinted that she didn’t use the platform as much anymore.
Facebook has also been the subject of a recent exodus and many celebrities have encouraged users to #DeleteFacebook due to its ongoing Cambridge Analytica scandal. But Snapchat is seen as more vulnerable to influencer-driven campaigns to stop using the service. Unlike Facebook’s peer-to-peer model, celebrities drive usership on Snapchat.
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