History Main / AdvertisingDisguisedAsNews

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced daytime "lifestyle" shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S. (such as WFLA's UrExample, which is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]''), which liberally combines relatively normal daytime talk with blatantly promotional segments where local businesses pay to have their employees appear as "guests".

* A lot of internet pages that are colloquially known as "clickbait" can be classified under this.

* The most literal example comes from infomercials that mimic the look and feel of a news interview show (such as one that aped ''Larry King Live'' to sell an, ''ahem'', [[BiggerIsBetterInBed device for doing "that" to your "thing"]]).

There is an innovative new method advertisers are using to get their message across. Rather than placing promotional material in the commercial breaks of a show, they are integrating it directly into the show itself, through a new process known as Advertising Disguised As News. We talked to it's CEO to learn more; "In this process, we have multiple ways of doing it. We can produce promotional content that looks and feels exactly like something you would see on a local newscast, or we can provide scripts and other materials to be used by the broadcaster that gets an advertiser's message across without disrupting the format of the program. Or, we can simply send a representative from the brand to appear on the show, so they can interact with hosts and other personalities." It is expected that this revolutionary process will become more popular as advertisers realize that they can now present a more "in-depth" portrayal of their product or service than what can be done through a traditional commercial.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced daytime "lifestyle" shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S. (such as WFLA's, which is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]''), which liberally combines relatively normal daytime talk with blatantly promotional segments where local businesses pay to have their employees appear as "guests".

* The morning show (yes, the ''actual'' morning show, not a advertorial daytime show as mentioned earlier) on Fox-owned station WFLD in Chicago aired an [[http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/03/20/fox-32-barely-admits-pay-for-play-news/ remote interview with Shari Belafonte]] which ended up being an ad for a diet pill. It was disclosed, [[RattlingOffLegal briefly]].

If the story promotes something directly connected to the outlet (i.e. something related to their own programming), it's SelfPromotionDisguisedAsNews.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced daytime "lifestyle" shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S. (such as WFLA's, which is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]''), which liberally combines relatively normal daytime talk with blatantly promotional segments where local businesses pay to have their employees appear as "guests". The networks in Australia also like these.

* This one for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIIM8rw0au8 OnStar's remote vehicle slowdown feature]] carries all the hallmarks.

* A variation comes in the form of the locally-produced daytime "lifestyle" shows on some TV stations in the U.S. (most of which are ultimately patterned off ''Daytime'', a show aired by Tampa's NBC affiliate), where local businesses pay to have their staff members appear as "guests" in blatantly promotional segments. After complaints from the FCC (who considered it payola), these shows began disclaiming such segments, at least.
* In a variant, some of the earliest VisualKei bands attained their promotion and first media breaks by setting up impromptu events and inviting news cameramen or entertainment reporters to film the results, usually without ''everyone'' from the news organization knowing the event was staged. One of the most famous was Music/XJapan's ''ORGASM at YASHIRO NOODLE SHOP'' which consisted of the band performing their single ''Orgasm'' in a crowded noodle shop and then proceeding to annoy the customers and break the place. This form of promotion was immediately looked down upon by the rest of the Japanese metal community at the time (which considered it being an AttentionWhore) and created a split between Japanese HeavyMetal and "Visual Kei" that would not be reconciled until TurnOfTheMillennium, despite that VisualKei artists were playing HeavyMetal. It also backfired ''severely'' when tried (by the same band) in a more traditional way to promote on American news programs in 2010-11, also ''because'' of the increased obvious staging and PR involvement in the US media appearances, which [[FanMyopia only appealed to fans]].

* The morning show (yes, the ''actual'' morning show, not a advertorial daytime show as mentioned earlier) on Fox-owned station WFLD in Chicago aired an [[http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/03/20/fox-32-barely-admits-pay-for-play-news/ remote interview with Shari Belafonte]] which ended up being an ad for a diet pill. It was disclosed, [[RattlingOffLegal briefly]].

* The Philippine magazine programme ''Rated K'' is infamous for this, shoehorning advertorials for dietary supplements of questionable efficacy, or beauty products, into episodes pertaining to a specific theme, complete with liberal use of adverbs "umano" (Tagalog for "allegedly") or "daw" (apparently), along with the usual testimonials from people who, ''umano'', benefited from the products. Don't be surprised if an advert for the supplement shows up immediately during the commercial break.

Also known as an "advertorial", a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a media outlet runs a story that ''seems'' like a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but in reality, is literally a PR piece made to look like legitimate content.

In the case of TV examples, these stories are usually disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible, often in the vein of a CouldThisHappenToYou story with a reporter, BRoll, VoxPops with "experts" and "real people" (who will often be paid actors and the like), etc. How such a piece is used depends on the local producer; they may just take bits and pieces from it to use like StockFootage, wrap it with narration from one of their own anchors, or just air the piece unedited and [[BlatantLies pretend that the reporter on the video is part of their staff]]. Sometimes, it may just involve a presenter casually talking about something that ends up being an ad.

While often used to promote commercial products, they have sometimes been used to distribute political propaganda as well

See also SelfPromotionDisguisedAsNews, when a TV channel airs a news story that is intended primarily to promote one of its own programs.

Also known as an "advertorial" a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a media outlet runs a story that ''seems'' like a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but in reality, is literally a PR piece made to look like legitimate content.

Also known as a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a media outlet runs a story that ''seems'' like a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but in reality, is literally a PR piece made to look like legitimate content.

In the case of TV examples, these stories are usually disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible, often in the vein of a CouldThisHappenToYou story with a reporter, BRoll, VoxPops with "experts" and "real people" (who will often be paid actors and the like), etc. How such a piece is used depends on the local producer; they may just take bits and pieces from it to use like StockFootage, wrap it with narration from one of their own anchors, or just air the piece unedited and [[BlatantLies pretend that the reporter on the video is part of their staff]]. While often used to promote commercial products, they have sometimes been used to distribute political propaganda as well

* A variation comes in the form of the locally-produced daytime "lifestyle" shows on some TV stations in the U.S. (which are ultimately patterned off ''Daytime'', a show aired by Tampa's NBC affiliate). They often have local businesses pay to appear as "guests" in blatantly promotional segments. After complaints from the FCC (who considered it payola), these shows began disclaiming such segments.

Also known as a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a TV news show airs a story that ''seems'' to be a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but hoping viewers don't notice it's actually an advertisement produced by the company who makes it. These stories are usually disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible, often in the vein of a CouldThisHappenToYou story with a reporter, BRoll, VoxPops with "experts" and "real people" (who will often be paid actors and the like), etc. While often used to promote commercial products, they have sometimes been used to distribute political propaganda as well.

How such a piece is used depends on the local producer; they may just take bits and pieces from it to use like StockFootage, wrap it with narration from one of their own anchors, or just air the piece unedited and [[BlatantLies pretend that the reporter on the video is part of their staff]].

See also SelfPromotionDisguisedAsNews for news stories that promote a TV station's own programming.

* The Philippine magazine programme ''Rated K'' is infamous for this, shoehorning advertorials for dietary supplements of questionable efficacy, or beauty products, into episodes pertaining to a specific theme, complete with liberal use of the adverbs "umano" (Tagalog for "allegedly") or "daw" (apparently), along with the usual testimonials from people who, ''umano'', benefited from the products. Don't be surprised if an advert for the supplement shows up immediately during the commercial break.

* In a variant, some of the earliest VisualKei bands attained their promotion and first media breaks by setting up impromptu events and inviting news cameramen or entertainment reporters to film the results, usually without ''everyone'' from the news organization knowing the event was staged. One of the most famous was Music/XJapan's ''ORGASM at YASHIRO NOODLE SHOP'' which consisted of the band performing their single ''Orgasm'' in a crowded noodle shop and then proceeding to annoy the customers and break the place. This form of promotion was immediately looked down upon by the rest of the Japanese metal community at the time (which considered it being an AttentionWhore) and created a split between Japanese HeavyMetal and "Visual Kei" that would not be reconciled until TurnOfTheMillennium, despite that VisualKei artists were playing HeavyMetal. It also backfired ''severely'' when tried (by the same band) in a more traditional way to promote on American news programs in 2010-11, also ''because'' of the increased obvious staging and PR involvement in the US media appearances, which [[FanMyopia only appealed to fans]].

* In a variant, some of the earliest VisualKei bands attained their promotion and first media breaks by setting up impromptu events and inviting news cameramen or entertainment reporters to film the results, usually without ''everyone'' from the news organization knowing the event was staged. One of the most famous was Music/XJapan's ''ORGASM at YASHIRO NOODLE SHOP'' which consisted of the band performing their single ''Orgasm'' in a crowded noodle shop and then proceeding to annoy the customers and break the place. This form of promotion was immediately looked down upon by the rest of the Japanese metal community at the time (which considered it being an AttentionWhore) and created a split between Japanese HeavyMetal and "Visual Kei" that would not be reconciled until TurnOfTheMillennium, despite that VisualKei artists were playing HeavyMetal. It also backfired ''severely'' when tried (by the same band) in a more traditional way to promote on American news programs in 2010-11, also by Music/XJapan, ''because'' of the obvious staging and PR involvement.

* In a variant, some of the earliest VisualKei bands attained their promotion and first media breaks by setting up impromptu events and inviting news cameramen or entertainment reporters to film the results, usually without ''everyone'' from the news organization knowing the event was staged. One of the most famous was Music/XJapan's ''ORGASM at YASHIRO NOODLE SHOP'' which consisted of the band performing their single ''Orgasm'' in a crowded noodle shop and then proceeding to annoy the customers and break the place. This form of promotion was immediately looked down upon by the rest of the Japanese metal community at the time (which considered it being an AttentionWhore) and created a split between Japanese HeavyMetal and "Visual Kei" that would not be reconciled until TheTurnOfTheMillenium, despite that VisualKei artists were playing HeavyMetal. It also backfired ''severely'' when tried (by the same band) in a more traditional way to promote on American news programs in 2010-11, also by Music/XJapan, ''because'' of the obvious staging and PR involvement.

* In a variant, some of the earliest VisualKei bands attained their promotion and first media breaks by setting up impromptu events and inviting news cameramen or entertainment reporters to film the results, usually without ''everyone'' from the news organization knowing the event was staged. One of the most famous was Music/XJapan's ''ORGASM at YASHIRO NOODLE SHOP'' which consisted of the band performing their single ''Orgasm'' in a crowded noodle shop and then proceeding to annoy the customers and break the place. This form of promotion was immediately looked down upon by the rest of the Japanese metal community at the time (which considered it being an AttentionWhore) and created a split between Japanese HeavyMetal and "Visual Kei" that would not be reconciled until TheTurnOfTheMillennium, despite that VisualKei artists were playing HeavyMetal. It also backfired ''severely'' when tried (by the same band) in a more traditional way to promote on American news programs in 2010-11, also by Music/XJapan, ''because'' of the obvious staging and PR involvement.

* A variation comes in the form of the locally-produced daytime "lifestyle" shows on some TV stations in the U.S. (which are ultimately patterned off ''Daytime'', a show aired by Tampa's NBC affiliate). They often have local businesses pay to appear as "guests" in blatantly promotional segments. After complaints from the FCC (who considered it payola), these shows began disclaiming such segments.

A variation comes in the form of the locally-produced lifestyle shows on some TV stations in the U.S. (but ultimately patterned off ''Daytime'', a show aired by Tampa's NBC affiliate); which often have local businesses pay to appear as "guests" in blatantly promotional segments. After complaints from the FCC (who considered it payola), these shows began disclaiming such segments.

* One of the most infamous political examples in the United States came in 2004, when multiple TV stations aired video news releases from the U.S. government that were produced and anchored by an apparent Washington reporter named Karen Ryan, which pushed propaganda for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBze5atYyCo Medicare]] and the country's education system without any indication of its true source. The General Accounting Office did point out that its illegal to use federal funds for "publicity or propaganda purposes" without the permission of Congress.

Also known as a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a TV news show airs a story that ''seems'' to be a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but turns out to, literally, be an advertisement produced by the company who manufactures it. These stories are usually disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible, often in the vein of a CouldThisHappenToYou story with a reporter, BRoll, VoxPops with "experts" and "real people" (who will often be paid actors and the like), etc. While often used to promote commercial products, they have sometimes been used to distribute political propaganda as well.

* One of the most infamous political examples in the United States came in 2004, when multiple TV stations aired video news releases from the U.S. government that were produced and anchored by an apparent Washington reporter named Karen Ryan, which pushed propaganda for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBze5atYyCo Medicare]] and the country's education system without any indication of its true source. The General Accounting Office did point out that its illegal to use federal funds for "publicity or propaganda purposes" without the permission of Congress.
* Subtly combining this with SelfPromotionDisguisedAsNews, a Creator/{{CTV}} affiliate (owned by Bell, who also owns TV providers and a cellphone provider among other things) aired a "Consumer Alert" story which blatantly promoted products available from The Source (an electronics store chain also owned by Bell)

* One of the most infamous political examples in the United States came in 2004, when multiple TV stations aired video news releases produced for the U.S. government that were produced and anchored by an apparent Washington reporter named Karen Ryan, which pushed propaganda for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBze5atYyCo Medicare]] and the country's education system, without any indication it was actually produced for the government. The General Accounting Office did point out that its illegal to use federal funds for "publicity or propaganda purposes" without the permission of Congress.

Also known as a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a TV news show airs a story that ''seems'' to be a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but turns out to, literally, be an advertisement produced by the company who manufactures it. These stories are usually disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible, often in the vein of a CouldThisHappenToYou story with a reporter, BRoll, VoxPops with "experts" and "real people" (who will often be paid actors and the like), etc.

How such a piece is used depends on the local producer; they may just take bits and pieces from it to use like StockFootage, wrap it with narration from another anchor, or just air the piece unedited and [[BlatantLies pretend that the fake reporter is one of their own]].

* One of the most infamous examples in the United States came in 2004, when the Bush Administration was criticized for pushing out several VNR's featuring a reporter named Karen Ryan, which were basically propaganda videos promoting [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBze5atYyCo Medicare]] and the No Child Left Behind law.

Also known as a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a TV news show airs a story that ''seems'' to be a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but turns out to literally be an advertisement produced by the company who manufactures it. These stories are usually disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible, often in the vein of a CouldThisHappenToYou story with a reporter, BRoll, VoxPops with "experts" and "real people", etc.

Also known as a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a TV news show airs a story that ''seems'' to be a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but turns out to literally be an advertisement produced by the company who makes it, disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible (with a reporter, interviews with "experts" and "real people", etc.).

Also known a "video news release" (as a related concept to the press release) or "fake news", this is when a TV news show airs a story that ''seems'' to be a normal piece discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but turns out to literally be an advertisement produced by the company who makes it, disguised to look as much like a typical local news story as possible (with a reporter, interviews with "experts" and "real people", etc.).