The biggest gaming streamer in the world, Rachell “Valkyrae” Hostetter, has introduced a line of skincare products that are supposed to protect against the allegedly harmful blue light from monitors. She felt the criticism bitterly. Many major Twitch streamers commented on the product, almost all remarks were negative. Even her friends criticized her. Meanwhile, the whole campaign is buried.
This was the joyful announcement:
- Almost two weeks ago, Valkyrae introduced a line of skincare products, “RFLCT”, on YouTube and Twitter.
- The streamer said she had worked with a company on the products for the last two years. She gave interviews; the products fit a “new lifestyle”: One appears healthy and attractive, even when sitting in front of monitors all the time.
- Supposedly, the products were supposed to protect against “blue light” emitted by monitors and which has negative effects on people’s skin and health.
Huge drama on Twitch – Everyone has an opinion and none are good
This was the reaction: In the days that followed, the streamer was primarily criticized by Twitch streamers and publicly shamed: For days, “Valkyrae sells nonsense” was a dominant topic on social media. The more Valkyrae spoke out about it, admitted mistakes, and backtracked, the harsher the criticism became.
Many major Twitch streamers commented critically or sarcastically in the days that followed. Essentially, the criticism was this: There are no scientific studies proving that blue light is really dangerous and that one should protect oneself from it in such measures.
The streamer was accused of selling an overpriced, ineffective product. The term “snake oil” was used, an American term for “fraudulent goods”.
The topic was temporarily dominant on Twitch. Clips about it received over 150,000 views. Even the streamers known as friends of Valkyrae then defended her in a way that wasn’t exactly encouraging:
- Streamer Hasan Abi said Valkyrae was actually only selling damned soap.
- xQc said it was Valkyrae’s job to check the facts of the products she stands behind. Therefore, the harsh criticism of her is now justified.
- Even the streamer Pokimane, a friend of Valkyrae, agreed with the criticism that there are “valid concerns” regarding the research behind the project.
- Another friend of Valkyrae, Disguised Toast, portrayed Valkyrae as the real victim of the campaign. She is not at all malicious or calculating but rather naive, impulsive, and trusts others too easily.
Valkyrae almost immediately regretted the promotion
This is how Valkyrae herself reacted: The drama surrounding the skincare cream lasted a week. Valkyrae seemed shocked by the skeptical to negative reactions almost immediately. Within hours, she admitted she was confused and would comment on the topic later while simultaneously avoiding congratulations on the huge project she had accomplished with RFLCT.
In the days that followed, she tried several responses, admitted fault, said she had trusted the company, had other facts, and relied on everything being scientifically founded. She was noticeably upset about having believed in the company so much.
The company’s website changed during the criticism. It was admitted that there was no real evidence that “blue light” is harmful but only indications that it might be.
Ultimately, leaked chat logs became public in which Valkyrae expressed her frustration to streamer Ludwig about the situation and just wanted out of the contract. It apparently particularly bothered her that research documents were shown to her that were not public but on which she had based her involvement in the advertising deal.
In the chat logs, she referred to herself multiple times as “an idiot” for not having asked more thoroughly whether the research on the harmfulness of blue light was indeed public.
Valkyrae apparently feared that “her brand” would be damaged. She said that the company allegedly wanted her to continue standing behind the product with her name and to protect the product from negative reactions. However, she rejected that.
This is how it turned out now: As several pages report, the website of the skincare product “RFLCT” is no longer reachable. Apparently, the whole project has been canceled.
Many tweets and promotional videos have since been deleted. Valkyrae would probably prefer it if everyone could thoroughly forget the matter now:
