Imagine a tote bag. It’s a really big tote bag, cut wide enough to fit an entire farmer’s market load, and saves weight when hauling satsuma mandarin oranges, eggs, and kale that you forget and end up rotting in the bottom drawer at home. It has wide straps for even distribution. refrigerator. 100% cotton, made in the USA, and available in ballet pink or a lovely faded olive color.
How much would you pay for such a bag? 30 dollars? 50 dollars? (For reference, the maximum price for LL Bean’s classic boat and tote bag is $45.)
How about $120?
That’s the amount Emily Mariko, the wildly popular content creator who shot to viral fame with her leftover salmon recipe, started selling her much-hyped product on Monday.
For those who don’t know, Mariko is an influencer who burst onto the scene in 2021, teaching millions of people how to combine salmon, rice, sriracha, and mayonnaise into a delicious bowl. Masu. (The trick was to use ice cubes in the microwave to reheat the rice to just the right consistency.) From there, she unpacked the groceries and quietly cooked in her always-clean kitchen. She gained millions of new followers watching her do it. Mariko usually doesn’t speak in her videos, giving them an ASMR-like feel.she wedding in 2023 It was described as a masterpiece of quiet luxury.
Prior to the bag’s release, Mariko posted the following: teaser video For her nearly 13 million TikTok followers.
But the widespread reaction may not have been what Mariko expected. One user commented on one of Mariko’s videos: “Your bag paid for my eye test.” “This looks like a freebie gift bag with purchase,” another user wrote. This tote also raised some questions that are becoming increasingly common in the world of influence. How much does having a lot of followers correlate with having good taste? Do you want to buy this bag because it’s fashionable, because it’s convenient, or just because someone popular told you to?
Mariko did not respond to requests for comment.
Afterwards, some users posted videos criticizing Mariko for selling bags that were deemed too expensive and outdated. “I have enough totes,” said one user. videomodeled all the different tote bags she already owned, encouraging viewers to use what they already had on hand.
Amber Fehrenbacher, a marketing director in Columbia, Missouri, also posted a video criticizing Mariko’s bag. A commenter on Fehrenbacher’s video wrote, “In this economy?! She needs to read the mood in the room.” Several others suggested buying the same size tote bag from IKEA for a fraction of the price. “So confused what’s so special about it,” another wrote.
“You know, I’m sure people are very fed up with influencers, especially having a hard time buying groceries to put in their totes,” Fehrenbacher said. (37 years old) said. Although she hadn’t considered buying a tote bag herself, she thought there were lessons for other creators to learn from Mariko’s new venture.
Laura Rubin, a copywriter and business owner in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, wasn’t surprised by the bag’s price. She felt it was in line with the brand Mariko-san has long established for herself.
“If you look at her daily content, most of the items she interacts with are expensive,” said Rubin, 38. “Those are the limits of money for most people. Even when she goes grocery shopping, she usually goes to the grocery store, where everyday items are more expensive. When she goes on a trip, she goes to the grocery store, where everyday items are more expensive. It’s going to be a trip.” Rubin also described Mariko’s 2023 wedding, which was heavily documented online.
“I think it was off-brand for her to make something that was less than $100,” she added.
Tote bags are currently sold out.