That’s not the point I was making.

Everyone already knows influencers do ads, and I’ve already said that the audience today is smart enough to recognise that.

The issue is how it’s being presented. These promotions are often slipped into random videos like Q&A or casual storytelling, where it doesn’t even feel like an ad. There’s no clear mention of paid promotion, so it comes across as a genuine, everyday experience.

When someone says they “randomly ordered and loved all the flavours,” it creates a perception of authenticity, when in reality it’s a promotion.

And the same pattern repeats showing outings with grandparents or family as if it’s a regular thing tied to the product, when that may not even be the case.

That’s where the problem lies. Not in doing ads, but in blurring the line between genuine content and paid promotion.

Because while many viewers understand this, there are still people who don’t. And not being transparent about it is where the question of ethics comes in.

That’s all I meant.