KUALA LUMPUR — Do people who are blessed with good looks have it better in life? 

Malaysian influencer "_erynamira" faced online backlash after posting a video of herself and her female companion snagging some free food from a restaurant, in an attempt to prove that "pretty privilege" is real. 

Pretty privilege is the idea that people who are deemed to be attractive based on current beauty standards have more opportunities and advantages over those who are seen to be less attractive.

In a TikTok video posted on Monday (Feb 5), the two women visit an Arab restaurant in Bukit Bintang, a shopping district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

In her video text seen before the two arrive at the restaurant, influencer "_erynamira" wrote: "Pretty privilege is real."

While seated at the restaurant, the influencer's female companion asked a waiter: "Do you like satay? Because I want to stay with you forever."

"_erynamira" herself tried the classic pickup line: "Do you know what my clothes are made of? Girlfriend material."

The waiter, looking slightly bewildered by the attention he was receiving, soon returned to the table with two shawarmas, a variant of the kebab.

"Apparently he wants to give us shawarmas because we are sweet," "_erynamira" wrote in the video.

The pair declared their mission to flirt for food as a success. 

"Isn’t it fun being pretty? All you need to do is drop a few pickup lines," the video creator wrote in her caption.

Her original TikTok video received 730,000 views and 31,400 likes. A video repost of it on Twitter gained 10.8 million views and launched netizens into a passionate debate disputing the influencer’s claim of pretty privilege.

"Pretty privilege is when you don’t even flirt but you still get freebies," said one Twitter user, echoing many Twitter users’ sentiments.

"Imagine someone gives food to you, and instead of thinking it's because the person is generous, you immediately think it's because you're pretty. Quite presumptuous, don't you think?" Another wrote. 

Many felt that the antics were "cringey", with one Twitter user saying he got "second-hand embarrassment" from watching the video.

MARKETING STUNT

However, it seems that the antics may all be just for show. One Twitter user alleged that the influencer was invited to promote the restaurant and that the scene had been staged.

The Twitter user, apparently a friend of the featured waiter, shared a screenshot of their conversation in which the waiter said that it was “just a scene” and that the influencer visited to “review (the) restaurant”.  

This is not the first time "_erynamira" courted controversy with her video. 

Last month, the content creator said in a video that she would not date someone from a low-income background. 

In the video, "_erynamira" was asked if she would rather date someone from the T20 or B40 income group. T20 refers to the top 20 per cent of income earners while B40 refers to the bottom 40 per cent of income earners in Malaysia. 

“T20 of course because they’re rich. Why would I want to have a hard life. I’ve already been facing hardships and have built up myself so that I’m in a better position,” replied the influencer. 

Netizens criticised the influencer for being arrogant and discriminatory, though some said that who she dates was up to her personal preference.