At one time, when YouTube was new, ordinary people filled it with interesting content. But only 3 years later, after television content producers have forced them to remove millions of copyrighted video clips, we are starting to see an even more insidious phenomenon: the posting of “phony” videos on YouTube, for marketing purposes. NBC has just been caught posting a bogus parody of their show “Heroes”. Not to mention Agency.com’s pathetic attempt to get an ad contract with Subway, lonelygirl15, and many more that have yet to be discovered. Best of all, you can now find how-to instructions on marketing websites showing how to use YouTube for viral marketing.
More (including copius links to relevant items) from Metafilter. Previously from WNM: (Dealing with) Subterfuge in social marketing campaigns and “Lonely girl.” Web advertising goes deep undercover
