‘Insta-mum’ quits app over claims she exploits her children
FOUR beautiful daughters, a perfect home and lavish trips abroad have earned Clemmie Hooper almost 500,000 followers on social media and a reputation as one on the most influential “Insta-mums”.
But despite the glamorous lifestyle that being an “influencer” has afforded the midwife and blogger, her account has now disappeared from Instagram amid rows over using her children in advertising.
Mrs Hooper, 33, one of the most followed mothers on the social networking site, has been accused of taking part in “ethically dubious” postings under her instagram persona “mother of daughters”.
She has defended herself on a Mumsnet discussion, telling users: “I don’t feel I ‘sell’ my children, I actually hardly ever feature the older girls and have changed my approach when working with brands e.g. I won’t feature a picture of my children alone and I always ask ‘do they need to be in the post at all?’” Using the name “anyalovesrose” she added: “I said I hardly ever feature them. They also see and give consent to any post where there are in the picture.”
But users replied saying that it was “morally wrong” and as children they were not able to give consent. One user added: “Selling children doesn’t just mean using them in an ad. It’s also using them as content to the extent that it brings in £.”
On Monday, a week after the discussion, Mrs Hooper deactivated her social media account.
Nearly 470,000 people followed her Instagram page, which was full of stories of family life and the pitfalls of parenting her daughters Anya, Marnie, Ottilie and Delilah, aged between two and 10.
Her husband Simon, who posts under the name “Father of Daughters” and has almost 850,0000 followers on Instagram, also regularly posts images of the family including advertising.
The couple, who run a limited company together, have repeatedly claimed that talking openly about their failings helps the fellow parents who follow them.
But, as they declare on their posts, they are actually partnered with a number of brands including Pampers and Dorset Cereals, which allows them to live the glamorous lifestyle seen on their Instagram accounts.
Photographs of a family holiday in Florida are labelled as a partnership with Visit Florida, which Mrs Hooper described as a “work trip”, while the couple spent time in Madagascar in October.
Their social media has also acted as a springboard for the couple to write three books.
Those close to the midwife say that the de-activation of her Instagram account is likely to only be temporary as she takes a breather from online rows.
Mrs Hooper declined to comment.
‘I don’t feel I “sell” my children, I actually hardly ever feature the older girls and have changed my approach to working with brands’