I wrote to 100 companies and asked them for something for free. This is what happened.

We are living in an age of hashtags - #followme #selfie #tbt and #photooftheday to name just a few of the millions of hashtags that are sent into the far reaches of cyber space every minute of every day. No matter which social media platform you favour, whether you update your insta stories frequently or are a habitual tweeter - you are guaranteed to come across plenty of these buzzwords whenever you log on.

In recent times, I have noticed one particular hashtag becoming increasingly popular and well used - please step into the spotlight - #gifted. Primarily used by social media influencers, #gifted is a hashtag used when someone has been sent a product or a 'gift' by a brand or company. The rise of social media influencers, how they earn their money and how much they earn is a well debated topic. Whilst there are many who feel that it is an exploitative and easy way to earn money, there are just as many people who aspire to make that their job title.

According to rules set by the Advertising Standards Agency, who have in the last few years clamped down on how influencers label their posts, #gifted applies when there is no expectation from the brand or company involved that the said recipient has to publicise or 'share' the gift. This differs from posts which feature  #ad and #sponsored which indicate that a business transaction has taken place and there are certain expectations placed on influencers to promote the products they have received.

Obviously we all know why companies and businesses work with social media influencers and why they gift products - that isn't in question. But with the Advertising Standards Agency rules in place and taking into consideration that these rules mean that there is no obligation for giftees to share with their followers, I began to wonder. If this is the case then would a company ever consider gifting a product to a regular old Joe? Or in this case, a regular Jane.

So with that thought at the forefront of my mind, I decided to conduct an experiment in two parts. In the first part, I wrote to fifty different companies simply as a fan of the brand and an ordinary everyday consumer, and asked if they could send me something for free i.e. could they please gift me something.

And in the second part of the experiment, I wrote to a further fifty different companies. This time I approached them as a writer and blogger, explaining that I was writing a blog about asking companies to give me something for free and was there anything they could send me.  

*On a quick side note, though I would hope that this goes without saying, I in no way felt that any company or business was obliged to send me something nor was this me in any way feeling that I deserve free things.*

I assigned myself some rules for this experiment. Firstly, as explained above, I wanted the companies to be different in each half of the experiment. If I had already written to a company as a regular Jane then I didn't want to then write to them as a blogger. I felt that this would negate their original response and might also involve using pseudonyms - something I didn't feel particularly comfortable about. The second rule was that, as this experiment stemmed from social media, I would contact the companies via their social media platforms. And the third, and main rule, was that I only wanted to approach big companies and recognised brands, no small businesses.

So with these rules in place, I set about contacting the one hundred companies. This is what happened.

Part One

For part one, which involved me contacting companies as a regular Jane, I contacted fifty companies via a mixture of Facebook and Instagram messages. Though these were via social media platforms, I felt it was important to make sure to compose each message as though I was sending a letter or email i.e. I didn't want the messages to be too casual or over friendly.

Out of fifty companies contacted, only thirteen replied. These are the replies:

- Lush

Thanked me for getting in touch and were very pleased to hear I liked the products. Predominantly, they like to donate products rather than send out freebies. However, they did ask me to contact their PR office in London with my request. Which I did, but I never got a reply.

- Sony

They were unable to help me with my request.

- Fujifilm U.K

Thanked me for my message and kind words but unfortunately they do not gift products.

- Smyths Toys

They feel it is unethical and unfair to favour any person or cause over another so declined my request.

- Pop in a Box

Glad to hear I like their products but would be unable to help.

- Pizza Hut

Simply sent "We wish it was that easy Cara," followed with a heart emoji and a pizza emoji.

- Paul Valentine

Told me that they would assess my suitability and get back to me. They didn't.

- Costa

Thanked me for getting in touch and suggested I download the Costa app which would eventually secure me a free coffee via the points I could earn.

- Converse

Were pleased to hear I was such a fan but couldn't help me.

- Hasbro

Appreciated my love of their products but don't stock samples to send their fans. Wished me a fun day.

- shopDisney

Great to hear I was a Disney fan but do not send out items for free.

- Primark

Unable to offer assistance on this occasion.

- Lego

Would love to say yes but wouldn't be able to send anything.

Part Two

Now it was time for part two, in which I now contacted companies asking for products as blogger and writer. Again, I followed the same strategy of contacting them through social media. Out of fifty companies, seventeen replied. Here are the replies:

- McDonald's

Unable to send free items.

- Mini

Wished me luck with the article but were sorry to say they couldn't send anything.

- Stardust Watches

Offered me a discount code instead.

- Superdrug

Requested I send a press pack and they would take it from there. As I don't have a press pack, I decided to leave it at that.

- Walkers

Unable to offer free products and thanked me for my interest.

- Casio G-Shock

Passed my information on to the marketing department and said they would contact me if they were interested. They didn't.

- Dunelm

Asked me to contact their press office. Again I did and had no reply.

- Boots

Unable to help.

- Kellogg's

Glad to hear of my interest but encouraged me to look out for offers in the supermarket.

- Papa John's Pizza

Was told that they are currently working with other bloggers and to feel free to get back in touch in a few months.

- Unilever

Unable to help.

- The Entertainer

Unfortunately unable to send anything.

- The Body Shop

Advised me to email customer relations. As before, I did and never heard anything back.

- Dnhandbags

Thanked me for reaching out and asked me what I needed. I replied and then never heard from them again.

So those were the bog standard replies I received. The final three companies are where things got interesting...

- Tiffany & Co

After sending Tiffany & Co my message, they did indeed send me something for free. They sent me a picture of their product box. At first I admit that I did see the funny side of their reply but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that their response was quite snarky and inappropriate. I understand that many people would think it was cheeky to ask for something for free and what did I expect. But I had approached them very politely and in praise of their products, it's not like I just went "Oi, gimme free stuff!" I sent them a reply back, stating that I felt disappointed in their response and I was sent a message to apologise. So that was that.

- Pepsi

Oh Pepsi. I would say at one point, I could have changed my Facebook status to 'In a sarcastic relationship with Pepsi.' I sent my original message to Pepsi and they replied stating that someone would get back in touch with me. Great. A few days later, Pepsi sent me a message that told me that a similar article had already been done and they hoped I could come up with something fresh and new. They also included a link to the article. Now I know that you could strongly argue that one can't always accurately judge the tone of a message, However, this message did come across as very sarcastic and there were no niceties in it all - no "good luck" or "thanks for getting in touch." They didn't even sign it off with a "regards." There was nothing at all. Just "Bad news Cara, that's been done" etc.

So I read the article they had sent me and it was nothing at all like what I had approached them with. This article was about someone who, instead of writing letters of complaint to companies, had decided to write letters of flattery to companies and see what happened. So I replied to Pepsi to thank them for the interesting article and again explained what my article would be about. I also stated that I would be looking forward to seeing what new and fresh products they would be coming up with (because you know, two can play at that game). To be honest, I thought that would be the end of it. But oh no, Pepsi has to get the last word in. The next day they messaged back to say "Thanks, we actually launched Pepsi Raspberry this year" followed by a thumbs up. Again, the message reeked of sarcasm. At that point, I was fully on this sarky comeback train so I sent a final reply telling them that was great and that took them one step closer to catching up with the various products that Coca Cola launches regularly. It was at this point that I had to remind myself that I was supposed to be a grown up who was sending out polite messages, so I decided to end my short fling with Pepsi. They brought out the worst in me. Oh well, I've always much preferred Coke anyway.

- TruffleShuffle.com

And finally we come to TruffleShuffle.com. After sending my initial message, they asked me to email them so that the relevant people could look at my message. And then the next day, they got back in touch to say that they would send a small box of goodies and they wished me luck with my article. A few days later, I received an amazing parcel filled with pop culture merchandise.

Conclusion

So out of one hundred different companies, a total of thirty replied. The rest I never heard back from at all. I found the replies and the tones of the replies varied. Most of the companies that replied were polite and reasonably friendly, however I was intrigued by a couple of the responses that stated that they didn't gift products. One of the main reasons I had picked the companies in question was because I had seen posts from influencers from those same companies. I understand that I am not an influencer so they had no interest in gifting me anything, but their replies felt slightly dishonest.

Obviously the results showed that I had several more response when I approached companies as a blogger, which is what I expected. However, I will admit that I didn't expect the reply rate to be quite as low. I also didn't expect to feel as guilty as I did when I received my free products.

Overall the #gifted trend is something that obviously still very much has a business transaction element to it. Of course a company can't give out lots of products for free, that doesn't make for good business. However, should there be more clarity about why products are gifted and who they are gifted to? Or is this a non-issue that we have come to expect when we browse social media? One thing is for sure, I am #curious to know what other people's thoughts are on this.

List of companies contacted:

Part One

- Converse, Pop in a Box, Coca Cola, Zoella beauty, Pizza Hut, Nando's, Krispy Kreme, Apple, Vans, Urban Decay, Lego, MAC, Paperchase, Teapigs, Yankee Candle, Lush, shopDisney, Primark, Hype, Jo Malone, Cadbury's, Mars, Hotel Chocolat, Hasbro, Nintendo, Dre Beats, Sony, Amazon, Ted Baker, Swatch, PlayStation, Lamborghini, Puma, Loungefly, Paul Valentine, Big Potato, ARRI, Canon, Fujifilm, Smyths, Louis Vuitton, Starbucks, Costa, Benefit, Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Dior, Bose and Sennheiser.

Part Two

- Soap and Glory, Pepsi, New Look, Mini, Walkers, McDonald's, Domino's, Waitrose, Unilever, Bloomsbury, ASOS, Kellogg's, The Entertainer, LG, Michael Kors, Casio G-Shock, TruffleShuffle, Tiffany & Co, Swarovski, Chanel, Next, Bobbi Brown, New Balance, Timberland, Foot Locker, Fjallraven Kanken, Xbox, Treacle Moon, Colour Pop, Stardust Watches, Sanctuary, Nescafe, Forbidden Planet, Funko Europe, Danielle Nichol, Pandora, Nyx, Superdrug, Dunelm, JD Sports, Curry's, Manfrotto, Joby, Nikon, GoPro, Papa John's, Burger King, Too Faced, The Body Shop and Mattel.