Quite ironically, that is how many people in America feel about Silicon Valley, especially when they hear about the offices filled with arcade games and pinball machines and meditation rooms and on-site concierge chefs...

Marketing is a skill. Just because it doesn't appear valuable to you doesn't mean it's not valuable to someone. For examples on the importance of marketing, see the histories of Tesla, Tinder, most big-budget movies, nearly all triple-A games, Wool, Harry Potter, Twilight Saga, nearly all restaurants, most tangible goods purchased in a store, cars and trucks, airlines... The point is that just making a good product isn't enough anymore; there are plenty of good products. Marketing is what makes people aware that your product exists and/or makes it the preferred option the next time they are in need of that type of product.

I don't think any half decent establishment would fall for the Instagram "influencer" nonsense.

There was an article a few months back that described hotels and resorts getting inundated by "influencers" requesting free stays.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/insta...

HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17330732