Delphine, 19, a social media star with an enormous global following, was mocked for the sale – but it sold out quickly

Belle Delphine, the social media star and so-called “gamer girl”, made headlines this week for selling her used bath water online.

Delphine, 19, who has a global following (4.2 million on Instagram), announced she would be selling $30 bottles of “bath water for all you thirsty gamer boys” in an Instagram post that garnered more than 500,000 likes.

Although the sale was widely mocked, the bottles of bath water sold out immediately. But who’s buying it?

“She’s the type of girl who’s fun and outgoing and has a sense of humor whilst also being really pretty,” one fan told the Guardian via Instagram DM. “I can’t really explain the bath water. I think it’s more of a talking piece. For the vast majority I think it’s just merchandise.”

But although her stunt received much media attention, the idea was inspired by a running joke among her fans.

Delphine told the Guardian: “Lots of people would comment on my photos saying they would drink my bath water. I was thinking of ideas one day, and it just popped into my head. What if I actually bottled and sold my bath water?”

The bath water sale comes in the wake of an array of strange stunts. Delphine has stuck googly eyes on a dead octopus, eaten photographs of her followers and other internet personalities, and filmed herself eating raw eggs.

Delphine once trolled her followers by promising to create a Pornhub account – only to then upload non-explicit videos of herself performing everyday activities, each a pun playing off common tropes found in pornography. One video – “Belle Delphine gets SCISSORED” – showed Delphine demurely cutting up paper with a pair of scissors.

She said: “I’m lucky. I can do crazy things and get to see the world react to it, and there’s definitely enjoyment in that, even if it’s sometimes a little scary. I get a bigger reaction to my weirder content but I think that’s only possible because I also make risqué content.”

Delphine’s actions may seem dubious or nonsensical, but her porn-lite style exists on the cusp of an adult industry foundering in the face of freely available content. Her tongue-in-cheek approach to the world of NSFW content has allowed her to carve out a niche and collect a colossal social media following. And all without going outside the parameters she’s comfortable with.

“I think for most the appeal is that she’s so out there,” one of Delphine’s Instagram followers said. “Her stuff is really kooky with lots of gimmicks. You’re just waiting to see what crazy stuff she’ll do next.”

It is perhaps fitting that manywho did get their hands on the tiny tubs of dirty liquid seem to have done so to be in on the stunt. A host of YouTube videos have since been posted, apparently depicting more influencers with smaller followings and fans drinking and even vaping Delphine’s bath water, despite Delphine’s warnings that the tubs are for “sentimental purposes” only.

One YouTuber, who posted of video of him making mac and cheese using her bath water, said: “I’m not a fan of Belle Delphine, by the way. I just bought it so I could make a video out of it.”

Delphine charges up to $2,500 a month for access for her exclusive “lewd” Snapchat content and boasts over 4,000 followers on Patreon. It seems the value of collecting and hand-packaging her own bath water for just $30 could be comparatively low.

Instead, in a world where social media stars drink each other’s bath water for likes, Belle seems to be oiling the cogs of a bizarre publicity machine – and playing to her fans’ demands. She has successfully tapped into an online subculture by creating content that exists somewhere between internet pranks and erotic modeling.

For many of her followers, Delphine is a personality before she is a pornographic model. The bath water stunt is simply another way of tapping into that hugely popular persona.

It seems her fans are in on the joke. Delphine said: “People like to make the joke that by 2019 they thought there would be flying cars, amazing medical technology, and other humankind forwarding ideas. I think stuff like that is happening constantly – but also people are buying bottled gamer girl bath water.”

So what’s next for Belle Delphine? “I think it’s been amazing and fun, but it’s time to move on to new things. I have a diary next to my bed full of crazy ideas. I’m not sure what will top this, but I’m looking forward to seeing what will come next.”