Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Influencer expert - 'Partygoers are candidates for the Darwin Awards'

Videos of the party were posted all over social media. Photo / File

The group of influencers who broke rules to attend a party on Auckland's North Shore won't be landing contracts to work with major brands any time soon.

Deborah Pead, the founder of public relations firm We Are Pead, told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that even describing the people in attendance as "influencers" was a generous use of the word.

"I had never heard of most of them," she said on the breakfast show.

"As in acting, you get B, C and D list celebrities. Not everyone can be a Meryl Streep."

The Herald reported over the weekend that dozens of partygoers broke lockdown rules to attend a gathering at a large rental property in Redvale, a rural area north of Albany.

Auckland is currently under Covid-19 alert level 3, which means no indoor gatherings – but footage plastered across social media showed a large number of people allegedly disregarding this rule at the private party.

The video footage showed people dancing, kissing and gyrating on tabletops.

Pead joked that the attendees were candidates for the Darwin Awards in that they were foolish enough to break rules and then publicise that rule-breaking across social media.

The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honour bestowed on individuals engaging in less-than-intelligent activities.

Pead compared the influencer scene to the gold rush during the Wild West era, saying there were a few cowboys operating in the space.

She said that major brands usually do their due diligence to ensure that the people they're working with don't behave in a way that could damage the brand.

Brands carefully monitor what the influencer stands for, what they've posted in the past and how they present themselves in public.

She added that professional influencers often have talent agents and carefully manage their reputations to ensure that they remain appealing to major brands.

Pead said that when used correctly influencers can be a useful part of the marketing mix, particularly when it comes to launching a product or service designed to appeal to the audience that follows the influencer.