When it comes to "free stuff," limits and boundaries just don't exist. A recently filmed incident in Kuwait is a case in point.
Over the weekend, Kuwaiti fashionista known as Dr. Kholoud shared a video of a massive crowd at the closing of> a local perfume exhibition ... all of whom had something in common: a craving for freebies.
Several Kuwaiti news pages uploaded the footage on their official Twitter accounts, ultimately pushing some people to the angry-end of the spectrum. Dr. Kholoud herself also posted similar clips to her Instagram page, thanking her fans for attending.
Such controversial situations - >which are not uncommon among social media stars in the Gulf - witness two teams with different standpoints. In this case, let's call them #TeamKholoud and #TeamCrowds.
#TeamCrowds saw many criticize the incident, calling out the mistreatment of the "crowds" and the degrading acts - such as throwing freebies at them - that followed.
#TeamKholoud saw people come to the fashionista's defense by blaming the people for being "so shallow" and for engaging in such degrading acts to get free perfume.
Here's how the controversy played out online:
"This isn't bread, water, medicine or anything important, it's just perfume"
"Launching the hashtag 'celebrities insulted the crowds'"
"What has made people prone to this consumerist frenzy?"
"The fashionista phenomenon"
People genuinely believed the fashionista wasn't to blame
"How is she to blame? They're the ones who degraded themselves."
"A fashionista and you want her to miss out on this huge change to promote her fragrance? Impossible"
This has happened before, but the freebies were money
Last year, a Saudi Snapchat celebrity >sparked controversy after he filmed his followers - who were gathered in the lobby of the hotel he was staying at - pushing and shoving to catch cash he was throwing down at them.
At the time, the incident was reported to have gone down in a popular hotel located in Al Qaseem during Eid weekend and came after the celebrity took to Snapchat to invite his fans to the hotel's lobby.
Footage capturing the event angered thousands, who criticized the star's actions, labeling them shameful and degrading.