“An influencer is a lazy fool who makes money off wealthy fools who cannot even choose their own pair of foolish shoes.”
Vittorio Sgarbi
Behind the insult, a provocation about choice
The statement is deliberately aggressive and designed to provoke. Taken literally, it reduces both influencers and their audience to caricatures. But once its provocative language is separated from its substance, an interesting question emerges: how much do we really choose for ourselves, and how much do we allow our tastes, purchases and desires to be steered by people who have gained visibility and credibility on social media?
Influencers did not invent influence
Before social media there were already celebrity endorsers, film stars, athletes, advertising, fashion magazines, shopkeepers and advice from friends. The idea of buying something because a respected, famous or admired person recommends it is therefore not new. What changes is the apparent closeness: the influencer appears each day on a personal screen, speaks informally and can seem less distant than traditional advertising.
That familiarity can make the message more effective. A recommendation does not always look like an advertisement; it may appear as advice, personal experience or a spontaneous choice. This is precisely why it matters to distinguish authentic testimony, sponsored content and straightforward commercial construction.
Being influenced does not mean being incapable
Sgarbi’s joke ascribes a complete inability to choose to the audience. That is an oversimplification. We are all influenced, even when we think of ourselves as independent: by price, design, a brand’s reputation, reviews, family habits and people we trust. Being influenced does not automatically mean lacking judgment.
The more useful question is this: are we aware of the influences we receive? Advice can be valuable when it introduces us to something we did not know. It becomes problematic when we stop checking whether what is suggested truly meets our needs.
From advice to a manufactured need
The most effective marketing does not merely offer a solution to an existing need. It can also suggest that something is missing from our lives, that an object is necessary to belong to a group, look more desirable or feel up to date. On social media this process can be amplified by repetition and constant comparison with carefully selected and presented lives.
The risk is not only spending money. It is gradually confusing what we truly want with what we have learned to want because we constantly see others wanting it.
Influencers can also be useful
It would be unfair, however, to conclude that the entire phenomenon is worthless. Some creators explain products, compare features, share knowledge, show experiences and help audiences navigate complex fields. As in many other occupations, quality, expertise and transparency can vary enormously.
That is why the strongest criticism is not of the existence of influencers in itself, but of the relationship between influence and responsibility: how clear is the commercial interest? How competent is the person offering advice? How verifiable are their claims?
The responsibility of the viewer
Some responsibility inevitably remains with the person receiving the message. Delegating a choice completely means giving up the exercise of our own judgment. We need not become experts on every product, but it is reasonable to stop and ask: would I buy it if I had not seen that person wearing it? Do I really need it? Am I paying for the object’s value, or for the desire to imitate an image?
These are simple questions, but they return a measure of independence to the choice.
The provocation works precisely because it exaggerates
Sgarbi’s language turns the phenomenon into a caricature: on one side a “lazy” person earning money by displaying products; on the other a consumer unable even to decide which shoes to buy. Reality is far more nuanced. But the exaggeration has a purpose: it forces us to ask whether, in some cases, we are really surrendering too much of our decision-making to others.
The real question is who chooses
Perhaps, then, the question is not whether influencers are useful or useless, intelligent or foolish. The more interesting question is what role we decide to give them. We can regard them as one source among many, or turn them into substitutes for our own judgment.
Conclusion
Advice can help us choose; it should not excuse us from choosing.
— Vittorio Sgarbi