'Don't go into advertising': Bindi Irwin 'tarnishing' legacy with paid Insta post for cleaning products
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA: Bindi Irwin faced some pushback for promoting commercial products on her Instagram.
Late zookeeper Steve Irwin's daughter and her husband Chandler Powell shared a "paid partnership" post for environment friendly cleaning brand Cleanery on Thursday, October 13. The 24-year-old, who followed her famous father's footsteps to become a zookeeper herself, posted a photo with her husband with several products from the brand, along with another image of herself cleaning a kitchen benchtop. Bindi listed the benefits of the low waste products and even offered a discount code with her name.
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"Anyone who is part of my life knows that I like to keep my home super clean," she captioned the post. "I only share things that I 100 percent believe in and that's why I'm proud to share our home cleaning product. My go-to is @cleaneryonline for environmentally friendly cleaning."
The paid post did not go down well with some of Bindi's fans, who urged her not to "commercialize" herself. "Please don't commercialize yourselves!" one commented. "I don't like seeing you commercializing yourselves," another added. "Don't go into advertising, it tarnishes your image," someone else offered. "Sponsored posts now #unfollowtheirwns," another wrote.
Others, however, lauded Bindi and Chandler for promoting ethical products. "I love these photos promoting such a great cleaning product that is Occa approved!" one gushed. "Never thought I'd see an Irwin putting up a post with a promo code. But yeah if it's an eco-friendly product then I say [thumbs up]," another chimed in. "So glad that you use what you advocate, especially environmentally friendly products [that are] good for everyone," a comment read. "All these posts complaining they are commercializing themselves… are you paying her bills?" another wrote.
That said, this is barely the first time Bindi has promoted products on her Instagram account. She announced a new side hustle earlier this year in what appeared to be her first-ever sponsored post. At the time, she promoted a range of all-natural baby wipes, vouching for the product saying it had made her life easier as a mother to a one-year-old daughter. She also affixed a 20 percent discount code to the post.
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It appears Bindi resorted to monetizing her social media after the Irwins admitted last February that their zoo was facing tough times due to Covid restrictions. Speaking to New Idea in November 2021, an Australia Zoo employee claimed that the sanctuary was downsizing to meet the financial challenges. According to the insider, "several key staffers" were let go in a span of weeks.
Bindi also admitted last year that her late father's legacy was at the brink of collapse as the family struggled to keep Australia Zoo operational during the pandemic. The facility was forced to shut for for 78 days in 2020-21 due to restrictions, but the Irwins continued to shell out $80,000 a week to feed the animals. The tourist attraction eventually found itself in a dire financial predicament. "The zoo relies on international visitors, and with the borders closed, indeed some state borders closed, and even Aussies struggling to get home, that's a sizable chunk of their income gone," the source added.