They pretty much invented influencer culture but, like an overripe Stilton, this once-fragrant family is beginning to pong.
A poster for the TV show The Kardashians on Disney+. The family’s influence may be waning as social media users turn against perfectly curated images and blatant product pushing in favour of authenticity and connection. Getty
If ever there was a month to feel as though we’ve reached “peak stuff”, it’s January. Whether peak cheese, peak booze or peak partner, it’s why most of us are currently swearing off something, in a valiant if clichéd bid to cleanse body and soul from the toxicity that we believe has been holding us back.
While sancerre and sausages might traditionally revolt us at this time of year, there’s one product that has so far remained impervious to the vagaries of human desire. Like electricity or paracetamol, the Kardashians are a hyped-up human example of inelastic demand; a family whose followers, dominance and net worth only seem to grow, no matter what they shill, or the cost of what they’re shilling.
