Kim Kardashian's latest sponsored Instagram post is disingenuous and greedy, and it's her followers who will suffer

Another day, another celebrity or influencer promoting potentially damaging products as sponsored posts on Instagram to rake in the cash.

In the last week alone, we’ve been spoilt for choice, as fitness influencer Michelle Lewin has been advocating “carb crush” pills to her 13 million followers which apparently “allow you to cheat on your diet.” Meanwhile Geordie Shore’s Charlotte Crosby, with more than 6 million followers promoted a “muscle stimulator” for your abs to help you “get in shape for summer.”

And of course, where there is a problematic Instagram promotion, you’re never far from a Kardashian. Khloe, with 76.5 million followers, has shared a sponsored post for meal replacement shakes “to help me get my tummy back to where it was” after giving birth to her daughter, True, two months ago, and Kim Kardashian West with – brace yourself – 113 million followers has been pushing morning sickness medication. Apparently the Kardashians have yet to learn their lesson after the whole "appetite surpresant lollipop" debacle of last month.

This isn't just problematic insofar as they are encouraging young women to spend money on questionable products – these influencers are selling lies.

Lewin clearly did not create her toned and honed, slim and muscular physique by taking “carb crush” pills – her figure is a result of years of dedication to fitness and careful eating. Crosby’s flat stomach is not the result of something you stick on your abs either, and all Khloe Kardashian’s meal replacement shakes have done is reduced the number of calories she’s consuming – that’s how she’s “got her tummy back to where it was".

These women are not promoting health, they're promoting a worrying obsession with their appearance, and the idea that there's a shortcut to "achieving" a body like theirs. These posts are damaging to the mental health and self-esteem of many of their followers – most of whom are young women – and exploiting their insecurities.

Take it from me: you should never feel bad about eating carbs and you certainly don’t need to “crush” them; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with not having a flat or rock-hard stomach – softness is beautiful too. And for goodness’ sake, it’s natural for your body to look different after you’ve just grown and given birth to a human – you don’t have to get your “pre-baby body” back at all if you don’t want to.

While body-shaming ads are bad enough, Kim Kardashian's latest sponsored post is arguably even worse. She's seen endorsing Bonjesta, a reformulation of Diclegis, the morning sickness medication she also advertised back in 2015, which was pulled off the market in the 1980s after lawsuits that linked it to birth defects. While it's since been approved as safe, Kardashian was criticised at the time by the FDA itself for failing to be clear about potential risks, and a 2017 report called its effectiveness into question.

This is probably why in the new post, after Kardashian explains why she apparently likes the drug so much (even though she's presumably never actually taken the reformulated version), the caption of her post continues with official small-print and safety information on the drug. This is, of course, essential, but my goodness, if it doesn’t look desperate.

And the trouble is, although many of her followers have lambasted Kardashian for being a sellout, there are also plenty of impressionable fans who hang off her every word, as evidenced by the thousands of “love ya" comments and more than half a million likes the post has received since it was published a day ago.

Kardashian and many of the other mega influencers who regularly post #spon or #ad pictures don’t seem to care about the backlash, presumably because it's worth it for the financial compensation they receive. Kardashian can apparently earn up to £500,000 for one sponsored post, which is substantial even for a woman reportedly worth $85m. Such a fee speaks volumes on how willing her followers really are to rush out to buy anything she mentions liking.

The influencers who promote these products seem not to understand the responsibility that comes with carrying so much influence. Either that or they just have no moral conscience at all.

Being able to reach so many people through social media is a privilege and can be an incredible force for good. We must pressure these influencers to take some responsibility for their actions and promote health and happiness, rather than completely selling out to make money at the expense of their fans' wellbeing.