Ad or Not? Louise Linton and Luxury Labels

Louise Linton, the wife of Trump’s Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, raised some eyebrows this week.

As one can discern from Linton’s liberal use of hashtags, Linton took the opportunity to specifically call attention to the various designer duds she was sporting, including Tom Ford, Hermes and Valentino.

One Twitter user questioned:

1. Whether Linton was “being basic,” slang for mindlessly following the latest trends and being generally vapid or uninteresting;

and

2. Whether the post crossed FTC endorsement guidelines.

https://twitter.com/misplacedplot/status/899855899744911362

We’ll get back to the Ad-or-Not question later, as the post raised eyebrows in other ways.

An Instagram user, @jennimiller29, who describes herself as a mom of three from Oregon, called out the gaudiness of the public servant’s wife as she benefited from her government role. And Linton was none too pleased.

Viewers online were quick to blast Linton’s extravagant display of wealth and her belittling response to the criticism.

https://twitter.com/Millennial_Dems/status/900005754945536000

https://twitter.com/mattliptoncomic/status/899990768290541569

Another Twitter user pointed out the irony of the actress who once played Marie Antoinette, the notoriously lavish and out-of-touch French queen, sharing such a post.

Steve Mnuchin’s wife Louise Linton genuinely dressed up as Marie Antoinette in an episode of CSI:NY https://t.co/G8pfymVGVB pic.twitter.com/a2mQhyllz4

— Mikey Smith (@mikeysmith) August 22, 2017

Returning to TINA.org’s classic Ad-or-Not question:

Brands were quick to distance themselves from this mess, assuring readers that Linton was in no way compensated for the flashy shout-out.

https://twitter.com/TheFashionLaw/status/900523804836864000

Valentino and Tom Ford would like to be excluded from Louise Linton's narrative https://t.co/9OjkElny8B

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) August 23, 2017

So, no. This is not an ad.

Linton did issue an apology following the media firestorm.

JUST IN: Here's the apology from Louise Linton for her Instagram controversy: https://t.co/AOJoEFADMv pic.twitter.com/d6jVk7TJt9

— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) August 22, 2017

But the damage was already done.

And the jury is still out on the charge of “being basic.”