Are brands trying to buy loyalty?

I started my morning the way I usually do.

Coffee.

A few YouTube videos.

You know… professional development. ☕️

One of them was James Welsh.

At first, I thought it was another influencer drama video.

It wasn't.

It was really about loyalty.

He asked two questions I haven't stopped thinking about:

What exactly do influencers owe brands?

And are brands buying loyalty?

The story started with a Korean skincare brand's US launch.

A creator accidentally didn't receive the same Louis Vuitton gift as everyone else.

It looked like a genuine mistake.

But that wasn't what fascinated me.

What fascinated me was another creator who attended the event publicly defending the brand.

My impression was that she genuinely felt empathy for a small Korean team launching their first event in the US.

I understood that.

But it also made me wonder where empathy ends and professional responsibility begins.

It reminded me of an influencer campaign I worked on at Kyutee that reached more than 18 million people.

One creator became frustrated because we hadn't posted their content.

From their perspective, it felt personal.

Internally, we were redesigning the Instagram grid before publishing.

They couldn't see that.

They only saw silence.

That's something I've never forgotten.

When brands don't communicate, people fill in the blanks.

Which brings me back to James's point.

At the end of the day, this is still a business relationship.

Creators aren't PR managers.

They don't owe brands loyalty.

They owe their audience honesty.

I'm all for brand trips.

But I'd rather tour the lab than the infinity pool.

Show me the chemists.

Show me the formulators.

Show me why the product works.

That's the content I'd actually want to create.

Maybe the real question isn't whether influencers owe brands loyalty.

Maybe it's whether brands are trying to buy it.

What do you think?