That Balloon Girl Pricing TikTok Backlash

Overview

That Balloon Girl Pricing TikTok Backlash refers to the public response to TikToker Kelsey Onstott, also known as @that_balloon_girl, a professional party decorator, publishing her prices for customized balloon decorations. Followers criticized her pricing, calling the prices too high. Onstott responded to criticism by challenging people to recreate her designs in 30 minutes from balloons from party retailers.

Background

On October 11th, 2020, Kelsey Onstott, under the TikTok name @that_balloon_girl, posted a video of herself setting up decorations for a party. She began posting the prices for her balloons, adding the comment, "Since y’all are so worried about my pricing I’ll start including it when I post time-lapse. This was $420." The post received more than 2.8 million views, 86,000 reactions and 6,800 comments (shown below).

Developments

After her post, people continued to comment on the video, calling her decorations overpriced. Some claimed that they could make the same designs with items found at retailers (examples below, left).

Days later, on October 17th, 2020, Onstott posted another video response to the criticism. She wrote, "Custom color 5ft balloon mosaic $300 – if you can go to party city and spend $5 on balloons and replicate this please duet me." The post received more than 19.5 million views, 2 million likes and 85,000 comments in less than one week (shown below, right).

Some on TikTok began responding to the backlash with comedic videos, characterizing the dispute as confusing and outsized. For example, on October 18th, TikToker @submissive_momma_ posted a video of herself listening to people yell at each other. The post received more than 59,000 views, 8,900 reactions and 710 comments (shown below).

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including BuzzFeed, ^[1] Insider,^[2] Dextero^[3] and more.

Search Interest

Not available.

External References