This one honestly surprised me. I have worked online for a very long time. We have thousands of customers. Most of them are good people. Some are unhappy — that’s normal. Every business has unhappy customers sometimes. But recently I started reading some Reddit threads about Afremov. WOW, If I had only read those Reddit posts, I probably wouldn’t buy from us either. But here is the irony, I tried finding actual customers in those discussions. Almost none. People just love fantasizing. People love discussing strangers. Maybe that’s the whole point of Reddit. I honestly don’t know anymore.
Here is the picture of a post on reddit
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https://www.reddit.com/r/RBI/comments/m ... or_a_long/
this is a serious post that people take seriously and invent all kinds of conspiracy theories about the existence of the artist Leonid Afremov. Leonid Afremov is a real artist. Here are videos of him painting
I personally love the last comment that was placed under the post.
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Yes, We Were Banned on Reddit
A very long time ago — maybe 11 to 12 years ago — we worked with a marketing agency that did Reddit promotion for us. Honestly? They were aggressive. Too aggressive probably. They spammed. Pushed too hard. Probably harder than even I would today and Reddit banned us forever.
Here is the post of the ban
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link to this post https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/2 ... the_works/
That’s fine, we apologized. We have stopped employing this marking company. We can agree they crossed some lines. Back then the internet was different. It was basically the Wild West. Everything was chaotic and less controlled. But what surprises me is what’s happening now. The double standards are there present. They use allegations without any evidence.
They say "Based on all of this, and particularly because of what we consider, with the balance of other evidence, to be very credible allegations that Afremov is bribing other users to post his work"
Since when paying a marketing company to promote you is considered "bribing" . Do all the influencers that promote products on all kind of platforms including reddit receive "payments " or "bribes for the promoted "product". This is fucking ridiculous!!!
It's a clear double standard targeting us without credible evidence. I think someone on reddit admin team has become ofended that his favorite artists has gone commercial!People Talk Like We’re Criminals
I read comments like:“Scammers”, “Put them in jail”, “Fake art”, “Fraud.”
For what exactly? For selling paintings? Yes, we sell more than just Leonid Afremov originals. Leonid Afremov has become a fashionable home decor brand/ Is that illegal somewhere? Is there a law saying: “Dmitry Afremov is only allowed to sell paintings by his father and nothing else”? Of course not. I even spoke to lawyers just to be sure. No such law exists.
I asked AI using one of the comments I got on a social media post as question. Here is the response
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We Built a Brand
Yes, we built a brand and apparently this offends some people. I actually think in our day and age, people get offended very easily with things that do not concern them.
Guys…
Every company in the world builds a brand. That is how literally how business works. Nike is a brand. Apple is a brand. Disney is a brand.
Afremov is also a brand now. Why does that make some people so angry?
Our brand is legally registered in several countries. Here is a link to one of the registrations https://trademarks.justia.com/864/43/af ... 43144.html
“But You Sell Copies!”
Yes. We have an art studio. We have artists. We produce hand-painted recreations and studio works. This is not hidden. I’m honestly exhausted from writing disclaimers.My disclaimers are becoming longer than the paintings themselves.
Here is a video to our studio at work
“Attention: this is not a Leonid Afremov original.”
“Attention: this is a studio painting.”
“Attention: another artist painted this work.”
What else do people want from me?
Original Leonid Afremov Paintings Exist — And They’re Expensive
If somebody wants a real original painting personally painted by Leonid Afremov decades ago — those exist and they cost serious money. That’s normal. That’s written on the website. Nothing is hidden.
prices of some originals
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What Really Bothers Me — Anonymous Attacks
Honestly, This is the part that annoys me the most.Not criticism. Criticism is normal. But anonymous attacks. People hiding behind fake usernames, throwing stones from the shadows. It reminds me of anonymous Soviet reports. When your neighbor reported you for listening to western music to the KGB. Why hide your name? Probably because you are unsure if you are right, or because it’s easier to stab somebody anonymously.
Examples of how usernames appear on reddit
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Write to Me Directly
If somebody has a real problem — write to me directly.
Seriously. l will answer. I’ve been selling paintings for 36 years.
I’m not hiding. Our WhatsApp is +529841195074 or +529841660292 , email [email protected]
“Afremov Is a Spammer”
One guy wrote: “Afremov spams too much.” Okay.
Show me one successful company that does not advertise.
Advertising is attention. Without attention, nothing sells. That’s reality.
You think art magically sells itself? No.Art also needs marketing, advertising, visibility, promotion. That’s business.
“Art Should not Be Advertised”
This one always makes me laugh. Some people honestly believe: “Real art should quietly wait to be discovered.” What a fantasy. One genius on Reddit wrote something like: “If I like a website, I bookmark it and maybe someday I’ll return and buy.” That’s the opinion of somebody who has never sold anything in their life, real sales are hard. Sales require pressure, offers, repetition, visibility, marketing. That’s how business has always worked.
We are Not Scamming People
If I advertise: “Original Leonid Afremov” and then secretly shipped a cheap print — yes, that would be disgusting. But we don’t do that. We don’t need to. We have many artists. They paint real paintings and we sell them.
It is completely normal.
Here are some links that explain what we sell on afremov.com
https://afremov.com/mixed-media-what-is-it
https://afremov.com/recreation-what-is-it.html
https://afremov.com/visit-my-studio.html
The Weirdest Part
The strangest thing is that many people that attack us have never bought from anything us, spoken to us, contacted us, or even asked questions.
They simply repeat what another anonymous person wrote. Like children. One person says: “The wall is white.” But it's really black. Then ten others repeat that we wall is white. The wall is not going to turn white from these statements until someone paints it. Repeating nonsense doesn’t magically make it true. I see a lot of similar patterns on a lot of social media posts on any topic. Lies are being repeated and perceived as “true” only because many people repeat the lie.
At This Point I Don’t Even Want to Respond
Technically, I can’t respond on many Reddit threads anyway. Reddit does not let you respond unless you have an account with significant Karma. No karma, no account, no access = no response. Honestly, Now I don’t even care anymore. I just wanted to ask one simple question: What exactly did we do to make some people so angry? We sell paintings at a fair cost, thats it
This is Dmitry Afremov.