Influencer shamed for wanting free meals from Noosa restaurant

An Aussie influencer has been publicly shamed after she sent a cringe-worthy request for a free meal to a restaurant in Noosa.

An Instagram influencer has been shamed online for reportedly wanting to “freeload” off a Queensland restaurant.

Jasmine Rollason, a ‘fitness, fashion and travel blogger’ with more than 36,000 followers, allegedly messaged a Noosa restaurant owner requesting free meals in exchange for “exposure”.

In a screenshot of a message, which she reportedly sent via social media, Jasmine explained she would soon be heading to tourist hotspot and “would love to help” the owner “grow” their business.

News.com.au has contacted Jasmine for comment.

Influencer Jasmine Rollason has been shamed online for reportedly requesting a free meals from a Noosa restaurant. Picture: Facebook

In the message, she reportedly said it would be in exchange for ‘exposure’. Picture: Instagram/jasminerollason01

The message, that was littered with spelling mistakes, continued that she would share content from the eatery on her Instagram page to her loyal followers who “value” her opinions and posts.

“I love creating content for brands and I would be more then [sic] happy to supply your company images you can share on your channels that are aligned with your current feed aesthetic or values,” the message read.

It also said she is willing to “add her personal touch”, with the awkward note signed off by pointing out she is a “model with lots of experience”.

“I am more than happy to help out xx,” the message concluded.

The influencer allegedly messaged the restaurant via social media. Picture: Facebook

She reportedly told the owner she wanted to ‘help their business grow’. Picture: Facebook

A screenshot of her alleged message was shared by prominent food critic John Lethlean.

He posted it to his Instagram on Tuesday night alongside the caption, “A model and a reviewer”, before adding the “#couscousforcomment” – a hashtag shaming influencers who demand free food.

One of his followers asked: “When will the freeloading end! How about buy your own meal and then tell your followers about your experience!”

The message offered to supply them with images if need be. Picture: Facebook

Food critic John Lethlean shared a screenshot of the message. Picture: Facebook

It comes as another pair of influencers also came under fire for requesting a free feed in exchange for “some stories” on their personal accounts.

Elle Groves, who runs the Two Teaspoons account with her friend Annie Knight, messaged an unnamed restaurant – with the DM shared publicly by Lethlean.

“They’re back #couscousforcomment I expect you’re going to get a little unsolicited social traffic of your own @ellegroves Have a nice day,” he captioned the post, alongside a screenshot of Elle’s message.

It read: “Hey guys!”

“My friend and I have a food page together – @twoteaspooons – and saw your restaurant and thought it looked amazing!

“We would love to come and try it out in exchange for some stories on our personal accounts, and a post and stories on our food page accounts.

“Would you guys be interested in doing this collab? If not, we completely understand. We can’t wait to hear from you XXX”

The restaurant owner hit back, citing that restaurants are struggling to keep afloat post-lockdown and he had even taken a job on his “off days” at a different venue to properly pay his staff.

In his response, he wasted no time telling Elle how inappropriate her message was.

“Hey, Elle apologies for the delay … I’ve been grappling with how much rage to demonstrate/throw in your direction,” he said.

“But it’s even worse when Covid is still very much a thing, affecting small businesses like us devastatingly for two years now.”

He then completely shut her down by signing off: “Maybe give it a year or so and see how the business landscape looks, and see if you can amass enough followers for your ‘collabs’ to actually be of benefit to the venues you approach so naively, instead of them being only of benefit to you.”

Elle told Daily Mail at the time both her and Annie “have never asked companies for free food”.

“[It] is always left open to them to what they want to offer,” adding they always have the restaurants’ “best interest at heart”.

Originally published as Influencer shamed for wanting free meals from Noosa restaurant