Al-Monitor | Holly Dagres: Fatemeh sits in the driver's seat of the car with a PlayStation 4 on her lap. �Happy Birthday,� she shouts at her husband as he hops in the car. Mohamaad is ecstatic and asks if his wife got him games, too. She answers, �No, I don�t know what games you want, but you can go to the Play Store and get them yourself!� In the next scene, we find Mohamaad dancing to a Persian song on his way to Tehran�s Play Store. This is�one of the many�quirky advertising videos Fatemeh (@1fatemeh_arjmandi) and Mohamaad (@mohamaad_vf) post on their Instagram accounts. The adorable Iranian online celebrity couple�has over 930,000 followers and offers ad space in the form of videos for everything from online retail stores to video game shops while adding a tinge of Iranian humor.


Farhad, a sales and marketing expert based in Tehran, explained to Al-Monitor that this couple isn't the only Instagram influencer. Other online celebrities, such as Mohammad Amin Karimpour�(@mohammadaminkarimpour), also post�silly videos and offer ad space. �For about 40 million rials [$1,137], you can get them to post a video with your product, which gets the privilege of being shared among�people via Telegram and Instagram,� said Farhad. �But on Instagram accounts, such as Palange Irooni or similar, they charge 1,000 rials (35 cents)�and oftentimes delete the post after two hours.� Scrolling through Palange Irooni's entertainment account�(@Palange_Irooni), which has over 1.1 million followers, you�ll find ads posted for everything from dentistry and diet pills�to designer watch stores.

Other Iranian entrepreneurs use Instagram accounts to promote their brands and products. Tezar Plaza (@tezarplaza) is an online shopping retail store that caters to Tehran�s elite�and promises original designer goods � everything from Christian Louboutin to Chanel � sold at a 20% markup and with a 3- to 14-day delivery guarantee from Europe. Tezar Plaza opened in 2012 in the Fereshteh neighborhood, known as the Beverly Hills of Tehran, but for the past two years, owner�Hamed Qmarsy has moved his shop online. �I realized that I�m a lot more comfortable doing orders online,� Qmarsy told�Al-Monitor. �Some like working in a store, but I prefer doing it from home.�

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