BackAmazon ups streaming game with Insta goddesses completing household chores
Reality show 'Instagram Girls' is a collection of glamorous social media influencers who are plucked from the city to live with provincial Russians and do menial, unpleasant jobsThe show had 22 million viewers in Russia and recently began streaming in English-speaking markets with subtitles
PremiumAs streaming platforms throw money at big shows in their fight for viewers, Amazon.com Inc. has gone a step further, building the biggest library of content to satisfy as many tastes as possible.
Thousands of mainstream titles on its Prime Video service sit alongside an array of esoteric content that includes a documentary about a supposed alien invasion of ancient Egypt, a collection of drive-in movie intermission ads and a 1973 animated film about a romantic encounter between two shoes.
Its latest find is reality show “Instagram Girls," in which a collection of glamorous social media influencers are plucked from the city to live with provincial Russians and do menial, unpleasant jobs. A panel of judges then vote on which of them coped best.
The tasks range from cleaning pigeon cages to replacing a car’s air filter, gutting fish, giving a circus elephant a pedicure, dressing up as a hot dog to advertise a restaurant, carving up a pig carcass in a market and sorting garbage.
The show had 22 million viewers in Russia and recently began streaming in English-speaking markets with subtitles, offering many viewers their first experience of popular culture in the former Soviet nation.
The producers present it as a social experiment: Tasks that for many people are part of their everyday life become a game of survival, said creative producer Nikolay Kartozia.
“What if you take all this away from them -- elaborate makeup, luxury brands, Photoshop and their ability to post online?" said Kartozia. “Will they be able to survive in a provincial city, doing routine work?"
The show is partly a vehicle for showing the participants’ Instagram feeds and for conservative members of the public to condemn the women for posting half-naked self-portraits. Like many part-scripted reality shows, some of the dialog lacks a ring of authenticity.
“Why should I soil myself with oil, when I can easily get to know a tycoon, who makes money out of this oil?" grumbled one contestant, who strained to turn a faucet to test the pressure in a pipeline.
Kartozia is hoping the Amazon deal will make “Instagram Girls" a hit with Western audiences.
Polish TV channel Puls is shooting a local version. Kartozia said he’s holding talks with Discovery Lat.AM and companies in the U.S. and Asia about using the format.
“The show is harsh and funny. The characters don’t always save face, and people like to watch this," he said.
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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
