Dubai, infinity pools and the five phases according to Kübler-Ross

Well, it was a bit striking how German Dubai influencers have been enthusing about safety in the emirate over the last few days: Everything is completely normal here, the government protects us just great, weather great. This is not surprising: anyone who works as a "creator" in Dubai is not just doing it for the sake of it, but as part of the business case. For low taxes and a lifestyle backdrop, you have to make a few compromises when it comes to freedom of expression. And before we find this really outrageous: In many countries with which we would like to do a lot more trade, the concept of "freedom of expression" also has room for improvement.

From a brand perspective, however, the question arises as to whether Dubai is now permanently damaged: accordingly, advertising brands must assess whether they want to continue working with Dubai influencers - not because of freedom of expression, which did not exist before the war. But because the perception of Dubai influencers is apparently changing: From "so cool, totally awesome life" to "serves you naive tax exiles right for squatting there now". Is this part of a changed perception of the omnipresent crises? Has the digital escapism, the simple blanking out of reality with even more images from the infinity pool, come to an end? In Kübler-Ross' model, denial is known to be only the first of five stages. Anger, frustration and envy follow in stage two. Whether the Dubai influencers and their followers will make it to "acceptance" together remains to be seen.

Or what do you think?

Here is the link:

https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/irankrieg-und-die-folgen-so-unterschiedlich-schauen-influencer-auf-die-lage-in-dubai-a-ccd3d56f-2ff4-436e-a69b-1f09205df0db