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Social media are full of bots and mass marketers hawking influencer opportunities. Usually, they don't target famous dead authors.
A clothing company reached out to Ursula K. Le Guin—the beloved speculative fiction writer who died two years ago at age 88—asking the late Portland author to become a "brand ambassador" and model a pair of leggings on her Instagram.
Le Guin's estate posted the email on social media with the company's name redacted:
I don't think this will work out the way you hope, Laura.
— Ursula K. Le Guin (@ursulakleguin) December 8, 2020
Oh social media. pic.twitter.com/49m1UWnVzl
Even if she were alive today, it seems unlikely the author who dreamed up the oppressive capitalist society in The Dispossessed would be interested in becoming an influencer who sells leggings.
Naturally, Le Guin's fans promptly panned the company:
— Kate (@theburdtweets) December 9, 2020
Crouched in the tomb's darkness and dust, she watched the fire's last ember die. The smoke in her nose reminded her of home. She rose, her cloak fell to her feet. A woman stood naked where the girl had died, and put on her Cheata™ print leggings. Promo code DARKNESSISFORTHEGIRLS
— Cosmo Wenman (@CosmoWenman) December 9, 2020
If this happens when I’m dead, I almost want my estate to dig me up, stuff my desiccated corpse into their cheap spandex, and post it tagging them online. Sooooo on fleek! Don’t look a day over 75! Should I do a tiktok of my morning routine using your skincare line?
— Sam “stay home" Stewart (@samthestewart) December 9, 2020
You have a choice of styles here. pic.twitter.com/kMdnLNtjyo
— Yehuda Shapiro (@YehudaShapiro) December 9, 2020
You should definitely do this. Louisa May Alcott just posted a pic in her leggings and she looks 🔥🔥
— Sujeel (@sujeel) December 9, 2020
Twitter user @japecake identified the brand as Bliss Leggings, which has a history of sending similar emails. Over 200 consumer reviews claim its offers are a scam.
Le Guin's heirs seem content to delight in the absurdity of the situation. The author's estate posted an update on the leggings offer yesterday, writing that the marketer reached out a second time: "She addressed us as 'Dear'; her tone was plaintive for a bot or mass marketer. Is she actually a she or is she an it or they? I could probably look on LinkedIn, but I prefer to be left guessing."
Regardless of who sent the email, Le Guin's heirs will not be using the novelist's platform to sell clothes anytime soon.
"In any case," wrote Le Guin's estate, "I explained that neither Ursula nor her heirs and assigns would be able to wear her leggings or to Influence on her behalf."
Related: The Studio Behind Midsommar Is Adapting Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Books into a TV Series.