'Blatant promotion': Fiji Water Girl slammed by Jamie Lee Curtis

While the majority of people on social media have fallen in love with Fiji Water Girl not everyone was a fan of her attention-grabbing antics at the Golden Globes.

Promotional model Kelleth Cuthbert made headlines earlier this week after photos went viral of her appearing in the background of celebrity red carpet photos holding a tray of Fiji Water bottles.

One celebrity Cuthbert photo bombed wasn't happy about pictures of the branded water going viral — Jamie Lee Curtis took to Instagram to complain about the stunt.

Explaining that she purposefully avoids being photographed next to branded content, Curtis said Fiji Water should have sought permission from her before the photo was taken.

Cuthbert managed to photo bomb Bodyguard star Richard Madden. Photo / Getty Images

"I specifically moved away from the blatant promotions by Fiji and Moet where young women with their trays filled with their wares stood near a designated camera," she wrote.

"I knew why there was a photographer poised there and I moved away as I said out loud that I didn't want to be doing advertising for either.

View this post on Instagram

So, my husband, who doesn’t look at a lot of show business news sites, just mentioned that I was on the CNN website. I specifically moved away from the blatant promotions by Fiji and Moet where young women with their trays filled with their wares stood near a designated camera. I knew why there was a photographer poised there and I moved away as I said out loud that I didn’t want to be doing advertising for either. Clearly this angle shows that I moved from her being behind me and yet from the side it still happens. The sponsors of events need to get permission from people when they get them to take their picture next to products.

A post shared by Jamie Lee Curtis (@curtisleejamie) on Jan 8, 2019 at 5:14pm PST

"Clearly this angle shows that I moved from her being behind me and yet from the side it still happens."

The Halloween star isn't the only one who isn't happy about the Fiji Water Girl's stunt, with several people on Twitter accusing it of an obviously staged advertisement — something Cuthbert has denied.

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Not the worst way to spend a Sunday...

A post shared by Kelleth Cuthbert (@kellethcuthbert) on Jan 6, 2019 at 5:25pm PST

"I just stand where I'm told, wherever there is an opening," she told Glamour magazine, explaining that she had been "caught between a lot of cameras" on the red carpet.

"You're just kind of trapped sometimes. See that's the thing: I feel like I was looking away, but sometimes I was looking so I could move out of the way," Cuthbert added.

geez this whole fiji water girl thing is a marketing move and staged af, stop spreading ads on this timeline please thanks

— ⚡️ (@xgrenzenlos) January 9, 2019

Y'all realize that the Fiji water girl is an intentional campaign by Fiji water and you're doing a exactly what they want everytime you share a photo? User generated ad content friends

— Dr. Conway Lynch (@Conwayiscool) January 8, 2019

I wonder how much @FIJIWater paid for this 'native advertising' stunt. My bet is as much as a super bowl ad 💵💵 #fijiwatergirl #GoldenGlobeAwards #goldenglobes #advertising https://t.co/GTGVutYuCf

— Kate Duckworth (@katee_duckworth) January 8, 2019

I'm sorry but this seems like the most staged and contrived situation I have ever seen. #fijiwatergirl

— OpenMindExitLeft (@OpnMndExtLeft) January 8, 2019

The #fijiwatergirl publicity stunt might be the cringiest social media fad so far. How can anyone not see it was so painfully staged and planned?
And The Fiji model better milk this all its worth cuz she'll be going right back to being a nobody after 15 mins.

— King_Caticorn (@King_Caticorn) January 7, 2019

Planned or not, Cuthbert's actions have proved lucrative for Fiji Water, with marketing analytics firm Apex Marketing Group telling Yahoo Finance the viral story was worth about $16.77 million in advertising. The water brand has a history of pulling off viral stunts as part of its marketing strategy.

"Since this went viral it took the (brand) exposure to a new level not seen in prior Golden Globes," Apex Marketing Group president Eric Smallwood said.

"Every table had Fiji, Lindt chocolates and Moët strategically placed during the broadcast, but this was done in prior years as well."