Entitled American influencer visiting Mexico demands locals ‘invest’ in their ‘skillset’ and learn English

An influencer in Mexico has turned some heads with his terrible take. The entitled American took to TikTok to complain about locals in the country he was visiting not speaking English, claiming they should learn because it is a heavy tourist area. Now everyone on TikTok is roasting him.

Brandon Hien posted the video but soon took it down after the negative backlash. Unfortunately for him, most of TikTok had already seen it. Reuploads have already been making their way around online and people aren’t happy with what Brandon said.

The influencer filmed himself walking the streets of Mexico as he spoke into the camera. “So I’m in Playa del Carmen right now and every five feet someone’s like, ‘amigo, amigo,’ and trying to sell me something,” he says. He then went on to question why they wouldn’t learn English in order to be able to speak better with the locals, “this is a very heavily tourist destination. I don’t get why they don’t just invest a little bit in their skill set [and] learn English.”

While Brandon admits that he is in Mexico he maintains that the locals should learn English to speak to the tourists. As you can imagine, his hot take was not well received online.

TikTok roasts Brandon

The American influencer’s entitled stance rubbed many the wrong way. In a comment on one of the numerous re-uploads one person wrote, “When you travel, you’re a guest in someone else’s home.” adding that “Hearing another language and encountering local culture is the point, not an inconvenience.” Another person simply wrote, “The audacity.”

TikToker @Daadi who has gained notoriety for lambasting influencers with mockery online even made a video joking about Brandon’s take, “The Mexicans in Mexico were acting Mexican and I’m literally shaking” he sarcastically quipped.

Influencers often get a bad rep and it’s exactly this kind of ignorant attitude that is, in part, the reason for that. Rather than embrace another culture, maybe learn a bit of the language and engage with the locals Brandon would rather see everyone cater to his culture while stifling their own just to appease him and other ignorant tourists like him. The ironic part is that he tells the locals to “invest in yourself, learn more skills,” when he could just as easily take the time to learn another language and invest in himself.

Regardless, it seems the response from TikTok was too much as Brandon removed the video shortly afterwards. Hopefully he takes the opportunity to learn and “invest” in himself rather than continue to be entitled and ignorant in the future.