FRAUD? Who will plant one tree for each picture of a pet posted on Instagram?
More than 4 million people have joined this initiative, but only a few have wondered who and where will so many trees be planted.
An online campaign that promised to plant a tree for every photo of a pet posted on Instagram has spread at the speed of light and has been shared more than 4.1 million times in a short time.
" We will plant one tree for each picture of a pet, " reads the sticker, which allowed users to respond with photos on their Instagram profiles, thus supporting the initiative. Instagram stories were flooded with photos of dogs, cats, and other pets after the interactive Add Yours sticker prompted users to share photos of their pets.
Who and where will so many trees be planted?
People soon wondered if it was realistic for someone to plant so many trees and if so, who and where.
Creator of Instagram profile Plant A Tree Co. Zack Saadioui took responsibility for the said campaign, but pointed out that the announcement was deleted 10 minutes after it was published because "it does not have the resources to plant so many trees".
He said that the day after this Instagram feature was released, on November 2, he was experimenting with creating content, not knowing exactly how it works.
“We just wanted to explore the new Instagram sticker and thought we would use it in a fun way that could be beneficial to the environment. We posted an Instagram story without realizing how the Add Yours option works, ” Saadioui said in a post on Instagram.
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After 10 minutes, Saadioui saw that the post was going viral and deleted it immediately, but unsuccessfully since several people had already posted the sticker. The public has accused Plat A Tree Co. of deception and making false promises.
They apologized and said that this was not their intention and that they felt that, despite creating negative connotations related to their organization, they had done a positive thing in raising awareness of environmental issues.
So, unfortunately, the photo of your pet did not result in a single planted tree, but at least for a while, we were able to watch the cute content on Instagram!
By: Olivia J.
