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Paul Ripke at a football game in 2020: The influencer was part of an advertising campaign on Tinder
Photo: Michael Bermel / Eibner / IMAGO
Paul Ripke is often referred to as a celebrity photographer, but photography is probably just a sideline for him by now.
Ripke, who became known for his work for the Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team and the German national soccer team, among other things, has long been one of the most important German influencers.
On his Instagram page, he lists Porsche, American Express and the luxury watch company IWC as partners, among others.
Up until Monday, the weight-loss company Weight Watchers (WW) also appeared on that list.
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Paul Ripke's Instagram profile
Photo: Kim Hoss / Instagram
This has changed now.
"The cooperation with WW ended yesterday with immediate effect," Ripke told SPIEGEL on Tuesday.
The sudden end of the mutual business relationship, which was certainly profitable for the influencer, was preceded by harsh criticism of a campaign with which Weight Watchers had apparently tried to win new customers via the Tinder dating portal.
The artist Kim Hoss triggered a wave of outrage on social media with an Instagram story on the subject.
Hoss released screenshots showing Weight Watchers trying to get his message across.
Accordingly, a Tinder profile had been set up for Paul Ripke, in which he described himself as a "prospective master chef" who was "in the mood for a change", "in the kitchen of course".
"Are you interested in healthy habits too?" they said.
"Then let's cook together!"
Women who felt addressed by this call and swiped right in the hope of a so-called match immediately received a message from »Paul«.
Kim Hoss also published a screenshot that a follower sent her.
The text of the message read: "You + healthy habits.
I've been around for a long time and have finally found myself and my center.
Are you also longing for inspiration and support on your journey to more balance and a healthy lifestyle?
Join Weight Watchers now and taste new habits.
Register now!«
What many recipients of this message probably only noticed on closer inspection: Between the profile photo of "Paul" and the text of the message - including a clickable link to Weight Watchers - was the note "You and Weight Watchers had a match" in gray letters.
A follower of Kim Hoss described this type of advertising as encroaching.
Hoss himself asked the company's Instagram account: "Do you also have a profile that you write to fat men on Tinder?"
»gross misjudgment«
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Ripke's statement on Instagram
Photo: Paul Ripke / Instagram
Ripke then spoke publicly on Sunday.
He released the idea for advertising about two months ago, he wrote on Instagram.
He was later pointed out by Kim Hoss and others to the actual advertising, which "unfortunately showed both a different photo and different text" than agreed and which was "rightly perceived as encroaching."
He asked Weight Watchers to "immediately stop" the advertising that had been running for three days, Ripke wrote, which the company did.
He has learned from the process and will end his collaboration with the company on January 1, 2023.
In fact, they failed to present Paul Ripke with "the final designed advertising material," a Weight Watchers spokeswoman told SPIEGEL.
"Our communication on Tinder was insensitive and we take full responsibility for that." It was a "gross misjudgment" to try out this new advertising format on "a new channel".
"In addition, Paul Ripke will no longer accompany us as a brand ambassador after a joint decision."
The company and the influencer are silent about the exact modalities of the contract termination.
