There’s a certain kind of uneasiness that settles in when you see too much of anything.
Too much food on your plate.
Too much money in the wrong hands.
Too much shiny newness stacked without purpose.
And yet here we are, watching creators sit cross-legged in their living-room floors, surrounded by mountains of boxes, unboxing package after package with the occasional four-second gasp; a scene that looks more like post-apocalyptic looting. All while saying the same lines: “Guys, I did not expect this…” or “I’m genuinely obsessed…”
So, does anyone actually want to see a PR haul?
The honest industry answer: almost nobody.
The PR haul is now one of the clearest fault lines in India’s maturing creator economy, revealing systemic weaknesses in how content is produced, how brands communicate, and how consumers interpret value.
A. Audiences Don’t Want It
PR hauls don’t reflect how real people shop. They feel excessive, disconnected, and scripted. Viewers scroll past because it’s inventory.
B. Brands Don’t Want It
Brands hate being placed next to random competitors with no context.
A PR haul collapses all brand stories into one big, undifferentiated pile of “stuff.” For a brand, appearing in a haul is like paying for shelf space in a kirana store.
C. Influencers Shouldn’t Do It, Either
PR hauls make creators look unserious, unselective, unaware of category positioning, and dependent on gifting rather than expertise.
The only people who “want” PR hauls are new, insecure creators. They post hauls to signal: “I’m relevant,” “I’m on the PR list,” “I’m chosen.” But established creators know this: being chosen is meaningless if you can’t convert that into authority.
Being an influencer should mean having a point of view; a sense of what’s worth trying, keeping, recommending. Hauls replace point of view with a pile of goods. And when everything is “amazing,” the truth is obvious: nothing is.