Hyderabad: They don’t own the car or the flat. But they pretend as if they do. Influencers, content creators, and aspiring finance gurus have fine-tuned the formula of posing beside luxury, speaking in the language of hustle, and portraying a concocted reality — all for the likes. On any given weekend, a showroom becomes a stage, a hotel lobby becomes an aesthetic, and the illusion of affluence becomes the borrowed backdrop.A pre-owned car dealer in Madhapur shared that the practice had become routine. “Those making Instagram reels in my showroom have become a common sight. They are ready to pay Rs 20,000 just to drive the car for less than half a kilometre. But I decline their offers,” said the dealer. He tried suggesting they go to proper rental services. “They said people on Instagram already know which cars are rented out. Their purpose won’t be served,” he said.Another person running a ceramic coating outlet for luxury cars said most of his walk-ins are between 16 and 30 years old. “They request to shoot reels next to customers’ vehicles. I allow it when I know the car owner, but they don’t want to show the shop’s name as it doesn’t suit their ‘rich’ content,” he added.Hotel staff are equally familiar with this charade. A general manager of a luxury hotel said, “They try to shoot in lobbies through some contact, and it’s difficult to explain to them that guests complain. They don’t care. It’s about the footage.” A facility manager in Madhapur described how some even try to sneak into empty apartments. “They ask if I can let them shoot in flats where the owner is away. One even told me it would only be a two-minute reel. I told him he could cost me my job.”In all this, the fakery isn’t random — it’s strategic, according to those consuming this content. “Financial gurus do this to add to their credibility. Oh, look, I have a lot of money, so you should buy my course. This is quite common. Financial gurus are related to these alpha male Andrew Tate types,” said Joy R., a Hyderabad-based software engineer.The theatre of fake wealth isn’t new. Thorstein Veblen, in 1899, called it “conspicuous consumption” — a way of performing success through wasteful display. It wasn’t subtle then, and it isn’t now. But Instagram has turned it into a mass movement.Reddit, as always, sees through the illusion. “Stand in front of your scammer friend’s actual car… Fake looking rich, sell people your ‘secret’ to being rich,” wrote one user. Another observed, “What if every influencer just said, ‘Yeah, I fake it. It’s a job. It pays.’ … It is effective advertising.”The problem, as always, is also in the eyes watching. “Everyone knows it’s fake, but it still works. You scroll past someone at a five-star hotel lobby, and for a second, your brain buys it. That moment is enough to feel you’re somehow falling behind — even if they’re literally holding a paper coffee cup,” said Dimpa Ghosh, a content creator in Hyderabad.Amit Sinha, a marketing executive based in Gachibowli, has been watching this pattern for a while. “I don’t blame the influencers as much as the ecosystem. ‘Fake it till you make it’ has become a business strategy. The sad part is that young kids watching this think success means buying things, not building skills or stability.”
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