For the first time ever, I was able to watch a video embedded in your blog. Yeah! So does native advertising erode trust in the news? Did we trust them anyway? I don’t think so. Are we going to respond by starting to pay for news, or are we instead going to start treating it as spam and start taking steps to avoid it.
Richard Feynman once said advertising was one of the few inherently immoral professions -- because its purpose is to sell something as better than you know it to be.
He also once pointed out that we have the power to do away with all advertising in a very short period of time, simply by refusing to purchase anything we see advertised. Since everything is advertised, that’s probably impractical but if we simply invert the equation and buy whatever is advertised less it would take a year or so before there was no advertising at all.
There is an opportunity for a reverse spin -- companies could sponsor things that have nothing to do with their product, so the connection would be impossible. You know, like -- say -- Converse sponsoring Will Smith in “I, Robot” -- no, wait… That’s not it (in case any of you missed one of the most egregious product placements of all time) but perhaps a car company could sponsor “game of thrones” without any of us wondering when Tyrion was going to pull up in his new Audi.
The Telegraph tries to keep some separation but if it’s google-able it can trip you up. There’s a whole link to a page-full of this phlegm: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/
I think Oliver missed the crucial point about ads: They have to sneak them in there because we don’t want them. Advertisers are attempting to deliberately circumvent the will of their customers, using subterfuge.
hyphenmansays
Mano,
I still remember the precious moment in my Ethics In Journalism class when the professor asked for all advertising and public relations students to raise their hands. Six or seven did so. He nodded and said:
“I know that you are required to take this class, but it has no value for you. You have chosen professions that are the antithesis of Ethics in Journalism. So, feel free to skip the class, study for other classes, whatever. I’ll guarantee each of you a C just so you don’t impede our important discussions with your silly arguments.”
I don’t think we ever saw any of those students again. They got their C’s and we got to learn what, at the time, was important.
I still remember the precious moment in my Ethics In Journalism class when the professor asked for all advertising and public relations students to raise their hands. Six or seven did so. He nodded and said:
It’s not as good as what Bill Hicks had to say to all the marketing and PR people in his audience. 🙂
hyphenmansays
@Marcus Ranum
Well, there is that, but then I suppose he did want to keep his job. : )
For the first time ever, I was able to watch a video embedded in your blog. Yeah! So does native advertising erode trust in the news? Did we trust them anyway? I don’t think so. Are we going to respond by starting to pay for news, or are we instead going to start treating it as spam and start taking steps to avoid it.
Richard Feynman once said advertising was one of the few inherently immoral professions -- because its purpose is to sell something as better than you know it to be.
He also once pointed out that we have the power to do away with all advertising in a very short period of time, simply by refusing to purchase anything we see advertised. Since everything is advertised, that’s probably impractical but if we simply invert the equation and buy whatever is advertised less it would take a year or so before there was no advertising at all.
There is an opportunity for a reverse spin -- companies could sponsor things that have nothing to do with their product, so the connection would be impossible. You know, like -- say -- Converse sponsoring Will Smith in “I, Robot” -- no, wait… That’s not it (in case any of you missed one of the most egregious product placements of all time) but perhaps a car company could sponsor “game of thrones” without any of us wondering when Tyrion was going to pull up in his new Audi.
(Will Smith product placements in I, Robot)
And, ironically, a few seconds later some web page offered me up this piece of shit:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/business/amazon-entrepreneurs/10895293/british-entrepreneurs.html
The Telegraph tries to keep some separation but if it’s google-able it can trip you up. There’s a whole link to a page-full of this phlegm:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/
I think Oliver missed the crucial point about ads:
They have to sneak them in there because we don’t want them. Advertisers are attempting to deliberately circumvent the will of their customers, using subterfuge.
Mano,
I still remember the precious moment in my Ethics In Journalism class when the professor asked for all advertising and public relations students to raise their hands. Six or seven did so. He nodded and said:
“I know that you are required to take this class, but it has no value for you. You have chosen professions that are the antithesis of Ethics in Journalism. So, feel free to skip the class, study for other classes, whatever. I’ll guarantee each of you a C just so you don’t impede our important discussions with your silly arguments.”
I don’t think we ever saw any of those students again. They got their C’s and we got to learn what, at the time, was important.
Do all you can to make today a better day,
Jeff
I still remember the precious moment in my Ethics In Journalism class when the professor asked for all advertising and public relations students to raise their hands. Six or seven did so. He nodded and said:
It’s not as good as what Bill Hicks had to say to all the marketing and PR people in his audience. 🙂
@Marcus Ranum
Well, there is that, but then I suppose he did want to keep his job. : )
Jeff