Dear Baobao,
I’ve reached a crossroads with all these letters and cartoons. I’m at a point where I have enough followers on my Instagram account that I’m being approached by companies to do a sponsored post, which usually entails a cartoon and a picture of you doing some funny. And with that, it has reopened an old debate about publicizing my journey through parenthood with you as a feature character.
At this point, you’re obviously not old enough to understand all the dynamics or make a decision about whether you want this exposure. So what I concluded last time was I thought you wouldn’t mind since you are such a happy boy who enjoys making people laugh and smile. I still believe that is true, which is why I have carried on documenting everything in the public realm, but sponsored posts offer a new layer of consideration.
I’ve never really thought about commercializing any part of this personal project and sponsored posts would be a step in that direction. It’s always nice to get free stuff in exchange for something I would have done anyway (draw cartoons and take pictures of you). But when I was writing an email to one of the companies looking for a sponsored post, the transactional nature made me feel like I was pimping out your cuteness and that is something I definitely am not okay with. It’s one thing to share naturally occurring memories and quite another to artificially create them. Thus, I’ve decided I won’t do any more sponsored posts that involve you.
In any case, it’s kind of crazy this is even a problem to be discussed at all – never would’ve thought you’d have such an appeal beyond your mother and myself. Then again, it is YOU we’re talking about, you shining star you :D
Love,
Baba
