I don’t do paid reviews. I love doing free reviews and trying new gear or just giving my opinion. This is my ethical problem with them and Influencers. Paid reviews are a blight, and Influencers are the worst perpetrators. Here’s the bitter truth: Businesses are desperate to sell, using any means necessary. Reviewers are sellouts, prioritizing money over integrity.
These so-called ‘obvious truths’ lead us into a quagmire of deceit and manipulation. Marketing, once straightforward through TV or print, is now a murky swamp, with audiences fragmented across countless platforms. The traditional family TV hour is dead, replaced by individuals glued to their cell phones, swiftly dismissing any ad that dares intrude.
Selling to existing customers is a cakewalk. But hooking new ones? That’s where the shady world of Influencers and biased product reviews come in. The sad reality is, people are more likely to be swindled by a so-called trusted voice than by blatant ads.
And here’s where the filth really accumulates. I recall the disgust I felt upon discovering a favored reviewer’s hidden agenda – only giving positive reviews if he got to keep the expensive products. His credibility, like his ethics, was non-existent. From then on, I boycotted his reviews, recognizing them for the paid endorsements they were.
As time marched on, the situation worsened. Paid reviews became rampant, making a mockery of honesty. Companies brazenly ask for my review rates, assuming I’m another one in the long line of sellouts. It seems every Influencer is on the take, raking in heaps of money for promoting products they wouldn’t be caught dead using.
Sure, there are some review sites that maintain a facade of integrity by not accepting payment, but they’re a dying breed. The rest? They’re just part of the racket, rarely disclosing their sellout status. The onus falls on us, the consumers, to sift through the lies.
I refuse to join this corrupt circus. I don’t take payment for my reviews and return all products – a luxury afforded to me because I’m not reliant on this dirty money. But let’s face it, if my family’s survival depended on it, maybe I’d be singing a different tune. The current system of paid reviews undercuts trust at every turn, leaving us to wonder if any review can be taken at face value. There seems to be no solution in sight for this rampant deception. Like everyone else, I’m left scrambling to find a review I can actually believe in.
