This is what happens when a car influencer gets a free first-class trip, being wined and dined by an automaker right before he does a review of one of their cars.
By Laura King
Do you think he will be fair in his reviews, knowing any criticism may have him never again getting invited to these luxury vacations? I mean, um, media trips.
Well, I have been fair and critical when needed in my reviews, and many brands like Volkswagen, GM, Rivian, Lucid, Porsche, and many others have banned me from their future vacations. I mean, media trips. Someone write that down for me.
I will even show you one of the emails from Volkswagen, bluntly admitting that. So, can you trust car reviews from the popular influencers and car publications that are regularly accepting these trips? Not only because they are better than any vacation that you have ever been on, but are also essential for their content.
Today, I am going to show you what happens behind the camera on those trips and how most car brands, like Volkswagen and Rivian, essentially bribe reviewers and journalists to make sure that you don’t accidentally notice anything too negative about their new car.
Now, I should tell you that not all brands ban journalists for bad reviews. There are still some brands that haven’t banned me despite my honest reporting, like Nissan, VinFast, Tog, and Xpeng Motors.
So kudos to them, letting me enjoy these trips without any fear of retaliation for my honest opinion. All right, now gather around, boys and girls, and let me tell you what happens when an influencer gets a media event invite.
It all starts with an invitation to go to a really cool location, sometimes within the country like Los Angeles, New York, or Vegas, but many times abroad—Europe, Asia, and the Middle East (the part that’s not on fire).
Your airfare and your hotel are booked in advance, and many times you get to bring a camera person or a production assistant with you. However, I have seen many journalists just bring their spouses or partners, which I guess are assistants too.
I have also seen those people completely ditch the media events and even media dinners and just bluntly make it a family vacation. Many times, your trip to the airport in a car of your choice is paid for as well.
And when you arrive at the airport, you get to fast-track your way through the business class queue and get to a luxury all-inclusive lounge with unlimited food, drinks, open bar, showers, and even your own massage chair. All of that while most of you are miserably curled up in metal airport chairs at the crowded gates.
Then you get on a plane before everyone else, except for people with kids, which never made sense to me. Why? Do they need some extra time to prep themselves to cry and hit my chair for the next 12 hours?
And the business class experience is great; you get your own space that becomes a bed with a big screen TV, your set of slippers and toothbrush, and all kinds of goodies. You get a five-course meal and unlimited drinks and snacks throughout the entire flight. It is amaze balls.
Finally, you get to the exotic destination of the brand’s choice. Oh boy, most of the time you are in for an amazing week, and I will tell you everything that happens during that week.
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Finally, you get to your destination, and someone is meeting you at the exit with one of those signs with your name on it, takes your luggage, and brings you to a chauffeur car to drive you to the hotel. The hotel is usually top of the line, with gifts and snacks waiting for you in the room.
Many times, it has a spectacular view and everything you want—room service and many times, hotel restaurants and services, including massages, are paid for as well.
Then, over the next few days or week, you are invited to all kinds of fancy events—media dinners, test drives with access to the newly unveiled cars, factory tours, entertainment unveilings, and you get the press passes to the auto show if the brand’s events are part of it, which many times they are.
Sometimes you are treated to unforgettable life experiences, like this one where an entire attraction park on a private island was shut down just for about 20 of us, and a full show was performed in which we were even allowed to participate. That was awesome.
But I can’t stress enough that the majority of journalists and influencers are not just having a great time, which absolutely they are, they are also 100% reliant on the content that they get during those trips.
This is the only way you get early access to these cars, in many cases, ahead of time. So when the news is released, you already have an article or a video ready to go. And then once it’s all over, and you’ve gained like 10 lb from all of the free food…
