WARSAW — A Polish influencer known online by the pseudonym Frogszoposting is filing a suit against U.S. streaming giant Netflix for allegedly turning her feed into a storyline for a popular new series.
The online content creator, whose real first name is Wiola, has 68,000 followers on Instagram. She used to work as a checkout clerk at Żabka, a popular Polish chain of convenience stores, and posted memes and anecdotes from the life of a cashier on Instagram. Her relatable posts struck a chord with many people and her content quickly gained popularity.
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On June 11, Netflix released a new Polish series, a social satire that covered both the nation’s financial elites and the working class. “Aniela” takes place in Warsaw, which, as in real life, is divided into haves and have-nots, from the working class of the Praga district, and the shiny skyscrapers of the city center. These stark differences seem to divide the city into two separate countries, where the Vistula river serves as a national border. Ultimately, the show’s message is that both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages.
These two “hostile countries” portrayed in the Netflix series are connected by Aniela Krajewska — played by Małgorzata Kożuchowska —, the wife of a wealthy lawyer, Jan Krajewski — played by Jacek Poniedziałek. Jan wants to divorce Aniela, and take their house, money and teenage daughter. He already has a new companion, a singer — Renata Dancewicz —, who sang her greatest hits 30 years ago.
Thrown out of her home, Aniela, with the rest of her belongings, ends up in a shabby studio apartment in the Praga district and takes a job at a school for troubled youth. Dressed in a white fur coat, she gets punched in the nose by the locals, but she quickly shows her claws. Over time, she befriends the locals, including some of the students, whom she helps record a rap song.
One of Aniela’s new friends is Oliwka, a friendly cashier from a local grocery store — Monika Frajczyk —, who is looking to gain popularity on social media as an influencer.
And it was in this chracter that the real influencer, Wiola, known online as Frogszoposting, recognized herself.
An interesting proposition
Writing to her fans in an Instagram post, Frogszoposting announced that she will be collecting money for a lawyer.
She added that she would prefer not to sue, but the situation forced her to do so. She claims that against her knowledge and consent, she became the inspiration for the character Oliwka.
“The dots connected for me when I saw who the director was,” writes Frogshoposting. “A few years ago, the guy invited me to a conversation about wanting to include me in his work on a character in a series that might be released on Netflix someday, which would be inspired by my character in some way.”
She says there was no contract or transfer of copyright to her identity. He said that it probably wouldn’t work, but he would be happy to talk to me about it initially, because he thought it was a cool idea. “Later, she recalls, “the contact broke off somewhere.”
He actually took the content of me, my entire idea of myself, including the roots on my pink hair.
And she adds: “Apart from my idea, he actually took the content of me, my entire idea of myself, including the roots on my pink hair.”
Her fans also see similarities: “The heroine based on you is also an influencer, she records in a store, she is upset that she did not receive some kind of award for influencers. Anyone who knows your content will immediately know that it is you,” one follower wrote.
The “Żabka” scandal
Responding to the situation, Frogszoposting published another ironic post on her social media: “If I had a frog for every time a large corporation illegally took over my ideas for its own purposes, I would already have two frogs.”
This is an allusion to her struggles with another corporation. In September 2021, she found herself in the middle of a scandal with Żabka — literally translated, the name of the chain is ‘frog”—, where she worked as a cashier at the time.
The influencer voluntarily promoted her employer’s brand by publishing posts on social media about working at a Żabka store. Afterwards, a scandal erupted when the agency professionally servicing the brand was “inspired” by the “Frogshoposting” style so much that Internet users noticed great similarities with the official Frogshoposting profile. It ended with an apology from the company.
