The ideal world, as staged by influencers on Instagram, has long been a thorn in Carolin Kebekus’ side. In the new edition of her show, the comedienne has now tackled a specific species that stands out due to a special distortion of reality: Momfluencer. In other words, parents who earn their money by presenting their family life as perfectly as possible on the Internet. There are many of them, as Kebekus notes. Even “more than cargo bikes in Berlin Mitte”.
The reason for this: You can earn a lot of money with your private life on Instagram. From baby clothes to lunch boxes to breakfast, you can advertise a variety of products – and link directly to the appropriate online shop. To ensure that people click diligently, the sweet little ones often have to help out.
Now, of course, Kebekus is aware that children have also appeared in advertisements in the past. But she sees a subtle difference: “Little Federico was booked and paid for by an advertising company back then, but the children in the Instagram age work for their parents for free.” However, this sometimes has far-reaching consequences: in the family, the little ones are not subject to any occupational safety rights for children that ensure that they are only allowed to work a few hours a day. It’s hard to control at home. Or as Kebekus says: “Such conditions used to only exist with the Kelly Family – and we all know where it ends.”
Another downside of the momfluencer glut: With their supposedly healthy staging of reality, they put a lot of normal families under pressure, whose lives are not always “instagrammable”, but a daily struggle.
That’s why Carolin Kebekus pleads for more honesty in the whole discussion with parents: “So let’s stop hiding these problems and pretending that there is a solution for everything.” Because it’s always good when you know that you’re not alone.
For this reason, her editors asked around and asked friends, family, colleagues: where did you as parents really screw up? All stressed families can listen to the stories collected when they feel they are the worst parents in the world. To retrieve these stories, Kebekus has set up a hotline that fathers and mothers can call anytime they need confirmation. True to the motto: “Nobody is perfect, screwing up is everyday life.”
“The Carolin Kebekus Show” always runs on Thursdays at 10:50 p.m. in the first. The program can be accessed from 8 p.m. in the ARD media library
