Fake Endorsements need to stop!

MKBHD's expose' videos are seme of the most unbiased means of calling out fake endorsements and hate. Not to mention a lot of fun.

Now please hear me out. I know that most celebrities who endorse products don't give a rats bottom about the quality of the product, let alone its usability. It's all good as long as the Benjamins flow in.

And.. I don't either. I get to see Gal Gadot in a commercial? oh that’s worth it. All fan favorite sports and movie stars are great ambassadors.

Or are they?

Look I know Gal Gadot doesn't use a Huawei. All those folks endorsing stuff don't do that. But they get paid exactly for that reason. They get paid to sway the crowd into believing that these options are attractive and yet they still have the audacity to use Apple devices to tweet them.

I mean WTF, you are probably paid millions for this kind of brand endorsements, at least have the decency to tweet from it? The most common excuse is that it is because of a bad PR team. Hey, that's fine, but it is still on you.

The same applies to techtubers. I am not pulling any punches for you guys. You guys live and breathe tech. How do you explain criticizing apple when you literally find it convenient to tweet from iOS? And no, you are not allowed the excuse of ‘oversight’ or ‘oh my PR team f*cked up’.

So why is this exactly a problem? Marques himself addressed how Steph Curry endorses other brands but never shies away from using Apple. So everything is cool right?

Not exactly. When you want fans to buy tech products like phones, tablets, laptops and headphones - ensure that you get the right ambassador. Just glam and bling wont cut it. Well it might, but we need to take a reality check if the very celebs who are like ‘Hey buy this amazing ph-… oh wait, I am getting a facetime call on my actual phone.’ No.

This is why even Marques, who is openly an android fan acknowledges that iOS is good in many ways and he himself carries an iPhone most of the time. As a tech youtuber he is right to lay out all the facts and let the fans make their own choices. Fans may still get swayed, but the tech community has a responsibility to ensure that the fans at least know that they are openly hoodwinked.

If not, it almost makes it false advertising now, doesn’t it?

Hey, if you cant even find loyal ambassadors by paying them millions, how do you hope to change brand loyalty and get fans to pay you thousands?

***International version ends here. Thanks for reading. ***

Indian version

Back home in India loads of top shelf stars endorse silk saree houses and shopping complexes that are meant for the public. Like THEY are going to shop there?! Pfft!!

Loads of actors shoot song and dance sequences for showrooms which they may never visit or buy from.

A lot of us already know that this is BS, so no harm done. Besides, all of this is a simple extension of modelling.

But then, there are endorsements for controversial educational institutions and NGOs. Do these people really believe in what they say? Of course not. But do they not know that gullible public will? Well, they should.

There are loads of celebs who support PETA, so we are all supposed to believe that they don’t eat meat? Don’t even!

Poor families who are looking for a way to find good education or business opportunities commonly trust what they see.

Chennai Amirtha Adverts

A Chennai-based food craft institute that promised jobs outside india and a great study environment. Most of their claims were found to be bogus.

Vobizen(?) mobiles

A double blow. A scam mobile company endorsement with iPhone in hand.

G1 Emu farm scam.

There were multiple emu bird farm scams. Emu birds were first seen as a profitable source of eggs and meat. They were later found incapable of adapting to Indian conditions. The whole scheme was a giant scam and everyone who invested in it incurred huge losses. Actor Parthiban too was involved in an earlier Emu farm scam.

So yes celebrity endorsements must be open to criticism. You cannot always blame the buyer/victim of false advertising.