Last year, a bunch of videos by creators came out on TikTok explaining how people are getting rich on FeetFinder. In the above TikTok posted by @ayypatrick, Patrick and his girlfriend go to Los Angeles on a private jet so that she could buy a new car. She went with the Mercedes G63, which retails for $179,000. Patrick then takes us back to his girlfriend's beautiful beach house in Malibu and helps her take some feet pics, explaining that FeetFinder is how she can afford all of this.
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Other videos posted had a pretty similar idea, i.e. someone made a lot of money on FeetFinder. This video posted by @tooturnttony shows how his sister lives in a mansion from her money made on FeetFinder.
The problem with all of this is that these videos were sponsored by FeetFinder itself, and these sponsorships weren't publicized. NBC News reported that, "some creators expressed concern that the ads misrepresented the reality of online sex work, and that the young audiences of those who promoted FeetFinder would be persuaded to pursue it without considering the risks involved."
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FeetFinder's CEO, Patrick Nielson, told NBC News via email that, "We suggested the influencers use hashtags like #ad or #sponsored” at the beginning of the caption... Any influencers that posted a FeetFinder ad without these disclosures were suggested to remove/delete that video ASAP.”
Legally, influencers have to disclose any material or financial connection with a brand, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
TikTok clearly took this issue very seriously because if you type in "FeetFinder," "#ffsponsorship," "FeetFinder TikTok," or anything similar into the search bar, no results come up. We had to hunt to find the couple of TikToks that weren't taken down.
And that's the tea! We definitely didn't know we had FeetFinder on our bingo card.
