Meet ‘Shabaz Says’ A Social Media Disruptor

He takes the ‘proverbial’ out of the rich, and gives a reality check back to the poor – or ‘povvos’ (British slang for poor person) – as he rallies people on lower incomes including himself in that collective, to turn away from wealth flaunting.

‘Shabaz Says’ has 1.6 million TikTok followers and an impressive 1 million people engaged on Instagram. Shabaz Ali, a chemistry teacher from Blackburn, England has amassed such a hefty following with a simple format for his posts: anything on social media seen as ludicrously ostentatious and expensive trends are taken to task.

The humorous and low-key way in which the challenge is presented is indeed its charm. Shabaz is wrapped up in bright, fun hoodies, laid on his side as if mindlessly scrolling content on the sofa like millions of others. Yet Shabaz adds a narrative that is slick in his take-downs and nothing is safe. Huge product trends that have seen growth including exotic ice-cube shaped moulds, neutral pantry and fridge organisation accessories and luxury pet products, all fall foul.

His moniker is ‘The King of the #PovvoGang’ and fans are full of appreciation for Ali’s reality checks when the majority of consumers are struggling with a cost of living crisis.

“Nothing has ever made me feel more okay with being a povvo than your content” said Instagram user NicoAsh66.

In a recent interview with the Australian television channel, 7 News. Ali explained that his account started because he has always been comedic: “It was a bit if a laugh. I’ve always been a natural of a prankster but it did take a bit of a serious turn. It started to take a serious message with the cost of living crisis and everything that is going on in the world.”

Ali’s attacks include the art of intentional bare-looking fridge curation with one of his ironic rules to demonstrate wealth: “Your fridge must be bare minimum”.

Ditto a neutral looking pantry: “Only povvos have cleaning products that are multicoloured. No! Let the cleaner bring her own, only white items, labelled.”

And as he continues to lay into content creators that seem to showboat, a further rule on domestic floral arrangements: “These flowers cost more than your grandma’s pension, your mum’s rent and your dad’s car combined.”

Research from the think tank, Food Foundation, highlighted that food poverty amongst UK children has doubled in the last year with nearly 4 million of them experiencing significant hardship

The most recent data indicates that one in five households reported children skipping meals, going hungry or not eating for a whole day in the month of January 2023. The measure was up from 12 percent year-on-year.

As a school teacher, Ali told 7 News he had witnessed this first hand: “I have seen so many young people that don’t have access to basic necessities like food or clean clothes even in a country like the UK. And then for them to have to grow up on the internet to see people over-indulge or show off about how much they have – their brand new Hermes bag, or the fact that they can buy 15 million flowers for their birthday. It’s not right”

He believes that it is time for a wake-up call when it comes to social media and the ‘influencers’ that boast wealth: “We need to move towards a shift where we have more relatable people, more everyday people on the internet.”

This influencer-critic has clearly become an influencer himself with a significant following. A recent post of Ali’s suggested that a range of Povvo merchandise might well be on the way, complete with an ice-cube logo.

“I never class myself as an influencer, because my main job is teaching,” explained Ali, but he does understand that some might call out what they see as slight hypocrisy:

“There is an irony that I am making money out of calling out rich people. The thing is, I never said there was anything wrong with spending money; I think my issue is with those that over-indulge and show off about what they have.”

Is retail ready for a new era of influencer? We already have hugely popular clothing merchandise from value brands like Greggs, Aldi and Lidl so one might say that the Robin Hood revolution has already started.