Paid $75k to Love a Brand on Instagram – Is It an Ad?
I love the &#x27;I wish we knew what was OK&#x27; - someone viewing the content, totally blind, needs to identify it as an advert without prompting. The only way to do that is to state it, up front, in the same format as the content itself. Not hidden away in some description, not in code, plain and simple. Anything less is obviously intending to deceive, and I see no reason to give anyone leeway to try and hide sponsorship.<p>If you want your sponsorship to come across as real and honest, then get someone to actually like your product, and then it won&#x27;t matter that they disclose it, as they&#x27;ll be able to explain why they like it in a convincing way. The only reason people want to hide the &#x27;sponsored&#x27; element is that the product is bad, and paying people is the only way to get them to associate with it.<p>When I watch an Extra Credits video sponsored by a games company, it comes off as honest because it&#x27;s clear that it&#x27;s an advert and the content is still quality and obviously unaltered. When Purge (DOTA 2 personality), talks about DotaBuff, it still comes off as honest as he shows how he uses the service and what value it provides him. This can be done right, and is, by reputable people.