In recent months, a controversial trend has emerged on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms: influencers who demand not only dates with wealthy people, but also seek to turn these outings into economic opportunities. What at first could be seen as a new whim or an eccentricity of the networks has become a more stable current, with very marked ethical and social debates.
One of the most resonant voices in this debate is that of the Argentine influencer Delfina Ferrowho published a video on TikTok where he assured: “We are an investment, the body you want to ask out is all a job.” For Ferro, women who take care of their image, prepare for a date and spend time looking good should be financially rewarded for those efforts. He even recommended that on the first outings women bring “a maximum of one bill for the tip”: no wallet, no paying their share.
This proposal provoked very divided reactions on networks. Some followers applauded her stance, especially those who criticize traditional norms of seduction where the man is expected to always invite. But others described his words as “sexist and outdated,” questioning whether romanticism can be reduced to an economic transaction. A couple of years ago, Sofia Gonetknown as “La Reini”, shared a video of her million-peso dinner in Buenos Aires, the same Karina Garciawho revealed that a businessman offered her 100 million pesos for dinner, although she rejected the offer.
The controversy becomes even more complex if we look at a related global phenomenon: the emerging “SugarTok” on TikTok, where young people—in many cases students—participate in sugar dating-type relationships with older, wealthy men. According to reports from English magazines, some of these content creators would earn between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds a year, just by offering company, going out together, and in some cases receiving luxury gifts or monthly stipends.
The risk, experts warn, is not only economic but also emotional. In many of these agreements there is a great inequality of power: very young children, in debt or in need, receiving money in exchange for company, while the “sugar daddies” handle the cards. In a note from The Sun, some former “sugar babies” said they regretted it, so what began as an extra income ended up implying an emotional demand and a loss of autonomy.
Another anecdote that circulated in Latin America was that of the influencer Victoria Puig (@_victoriapuig), who recounted a failed date on TikTok in which she ended up paying 70,000 pesos in drinks. Her post sparked a debate: who should pay the bill on the first date? How far does the symbolic and where does the monetary enter into modern relationships?
For some analysts, this trend responds to a mix of factors: the rise of influencer marketing (which already professionalizes the “I tell my life”) and the economic precariousness of many young people. In a system where status is measured in “likes,” “followers,” and “income-generating levers,” many people are willing to “monetize” their emotional ties.
However, relationship experts warn that this logic can be very dangerous. By turning dating into transactions, you risk distorting trust, genuine affection, and intimacy. Furthermore, the imbalance of power—economic or symbolic—can lead to emotional exploitation or relationships where there is no real feeling, but only an exchange.
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