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Indian-origin content creator in Dubai calls out brands over low pay: 'How can you make such offers?'
Dubai-based Indian-origin creator Rohit Bharati sparked online discussion after calling out brands for underpaying creators.
An Indian-origin content creator based in Dubai has sparked a discussion online after calling out brands and PR agencies for offering extremely low payments to influencers for promotional collaborations.
Taking to Instagram, Rohit Bharati, a reel creator with over 54,000 followers on the platform, shared a video criticising how little some companies are willing to pay creators, despite the time, effort, and creativity required to produce quality content. In the video, captioned “Thoda toh samajh lo bhai, I get it you need to make commissions, but itna??”, Bharati reacts to an offer he received from a brand. “1 reel + a set of stories. Budget is around 150 AED,” the text on the clip read.
In the clip, Bharati expressed disbelief over the low rate, saying no agency should be offering such minimal compensation to anyone. He explained that even actors in small commercial shoots are paid several hundred dirhams for just a few hours of work, and questioned why creators, who spend time growing their pages and producing quality content, are not shown the same respect. “Jo banda ya bandi apna page organically bada rahe hain, unko yeh kaise offer kar sakte ho?” he questioned.
Social media reactions
Bharati’s video quickly resonated with many fellow content creators and influencers who flooded the comments section with similar experiences.
“You said extactly right even one brand has offer me 50AED I was like keep that 50 with you even you want I can give more to you,” one user wrote.
“I swearrr!! Someone messaged me and saying budget is 50 aed lol I mean Bhai free mein karwa lo Aisay message kar k sharam na aye tumhe,” shared another.
“I thought content creators in Dubai are well paid, but looks like it’s the same scenario everywhere,” commented a third user.
“I think it’s also because every second person in Dubai is an influencer & some of them will even work for 50 aed just to have content on their page. And then that gives the brands & agencies the liberty to offer others also the same. And I feel nowadays these people don’t even consider quality of the content as long as they are getting it done for free or at a very low budget,” expressed one user.
