Dive Brief: 

• After a recent announcement, real Instagram ads finally hit user streams.
• The first ad to be displayed was from designer Michael Kors for a luxury watch.
• The ad received over 36,000 likes and over 200 comments which were overwhelmingly negative. One user wrote, "If you're going to do sponsored ads you should at least make them cheaper I can't afford this."

Dive Insight:

Michael Kors made a bold move as the first brand to try out Instagram ads because the negative backlash was inevitable. On the bright side, publications across the country are talking about the new Instagram ads and posting screenshots, so the reach for it was incredible. As with any other change in social media, users will initially speak out negatively, but they quickly transition and forget they were ever angry.

The quote from the user above does make a valid point that brands and Instagram should address—showing ads to the right users. Some of this will be solved by the process they have installed allowing users to mark ads as relevant to them and will evolve as more ads are shown and users respond.