History Main / AdvertisingDisguisedAsNews

See also SelfPromotionDisguisedAsNews, a similar situation where the advertising involves something that is owned by or associated with the outlet.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced, daytime lifestyle shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S., in which local businesses pay to have their employees or spokesperson appear as "guests" to plug their products in barely-disguised {{Infomercial}} segments. These shows are almost always produced by a station's creative services or sales department and kept separated from their actual news departments. Examples include the UrExample that is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]'' (produced by Tampa's Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate WFLA. Some of their other stations, especially those owned by predecessors Media General and LIN, air similar shows), ''The Morning Blend'' (used by the now Scripps-owned Journal Broadcast Group stations; Scripps' ABC station WTFS in Tampa recently launched its own version to [[DuelingShows compete]] with ''Daytime''), WKBW's ''AM Buffalo'' (they're also owned by Scripps, but this program was carried over from its Granite ownership), and Meredith's syndicated ''Better'', which could have local cut-ins and co-brandings of this nature, a la ''Evening Magazine''.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced, daytime lifestyle shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S., in which local businesses pay to have their employees or spokesperson appear as "guests" to plug their products in barely-disguised {{Infomercial}} segments. These shows are almost always produced by a station's creative services or sales department and kept separated from their actual news departments. Examples include the UrExample that is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]'' (produced by Tampa's Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate WFLA. Some of their other stations, especially those owned by predecessors Media General and LIN, air similar shows), ''The Morning Blend'' (primarily used by the former Journal Broadcast Group stations, now owned by Scripps -- who has since [[DuelingShows introduced]] a version of it for its existing ABC affiliate in Tampa too), WKBW's ''AM Buffalo'' (they're also owned by Scripps, but this program was carried over from its Granite ownership. The show had a long history prior to becoming an advertorial-oriented series, and was once the local version of ''Series/DialingForDollars''), and Meredith's syndicated ''Better'', which could have local cut-ins and co-brandings of this nature, a la ''Evening Magazine''.

* The Las Vegas version of the aforementioned ''Morning Blend'' was notably duped in 2015, when it aired a bizarre paid interview regarding a new exercise program called "The Movement", which involves moving boxes (inspired by his volunteer work with jungle children, which are [[ShapedLikeItself children who live in the jungle]]). Yes, this was actually part of a ''Series/NathanForYou'' stunt.

* The Las Vegas version of the aforementioned ''The Morning Blend'' was notably duped in 2015 when it aired a bizarre paid interview regarding a new exercise program called "The Movement", which involves moving boxes (as influenced by his volunteer work with jungle children, which are [[ShapedLikeItself children who live in the jungle). Yes, [[Series/NathanForYou Nathan Fielder was involved]].

* The Las Vegas version of the aforementioned ''The Morning Blend'' was notably duped in 2015 when it aired a bizarre interview regarding a new exercise program called "The Movement". Yes, [[Series/NathanForYou Nathan Fielder was involved]].

** The Las Vegas version of ''The Morning Blend'' was notably duped in 2015 when it aired a bizarre interview regarding a new exercise program called "The Movement". Yes, [[Series/NathanForYou Nathan Fielder was involved]].

* After entering into a $250 million-dollar advertising and "integration" deal with the daily fantasy sports website [=DraftKings=] over the summer of 2015, practically ''every'' Creator/{{ESPN}} studio program was pimping it in some way or another. Even worse? ESPN writer Matthew Berry pretty much turned his fantasy sports column into a [[http://deadspin.com/espns-matthew-berry-sells-credibility-to-draftkings-1731566734 giant ad for DraftKings]]. In a follow-up, he did include a disclosure ... which ended being ''more'' praise for the site. In the midst of growing controversy over the legality of DFS, the [[RepeatingAd endless ads]] and ESPN plugs started to die down, and ESPN later backed out of the deal.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced, daytime lifestyle shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S., in which local businesses pay to have their employees or spokesperson appear as "guests" to plug their products in barely-disguised {{Infomercial}} segments. These shows are almost always produced by a station's creative services or sales department and kept separated from their actual news departments. Examples include the UrExample that is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]'' (produced by Tampa's Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate WFLA. Some of their other stations, especially those owned by predecessors Media General and LIN, air similar shows), ''The Morning Blend'' (primarily used by the former Journal Broadcast Group stations, now owned by Scripps -- who has since [[DuelingShows introduced]] a version of it for its existing ABC affiliate in Tampa too), WKBW's ''AM Buffalo'' (they're also owned by Scripps, but this program was carried over from its Granite ownership), and Meredith's syndicated ''Better'', which could have local cut-ins and co-brandings of this nature, a la ''Evening Magazine''.

--> ''"The Internet is Advertising Park. We built a wonderful place with amazing technology and thought we could pay for it by keeping advertising safely behind borders where people could look at it and maybe sometimes pet its pretty fur. But the advertising has broken loose now, eating and shitting on everything. These consumervores are clever. Some sneak up on their prey by disguising themselves as real articles."''

** In fact, even before "clickbait" and "fake news" were common terms, there had been banner ads leading to fake news articles (often for things such as açaí berries as dietary supplements), aping the style of local news websites/

* [[Music/DestinysChild Kelly Rowland]] was interviewed by WGN's morning show, but when confronted with questions about Music/{{Beyonce}}'s Lemonade album, she abruptly changed the topic and began to briefly talk up her partnership with Claritin and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Considering there was a small box of Claritin right next to her, preeminently awaiting its acknowledgement, it seemed to be the real point of the interview.

* The most literal example comes from infomercials that mimic the look and feel of a news interview show. Think of the people flicking through the channels and noticing ''Larry King Special Report'', thinking it's a ''Larry King Live'' revival, but only to find out that it's just an infomercial for a joint medication.

If the promotion is for something that the owner of the outlet also runs, it's SelfPromotionDisguisedAsNews.

* In season 19 of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' we have an anthropomorphic example with Leslie Meyers.

-->-- '''Luke McKinney, ''Website/{{Cracked}}''[='=]s "[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-warning-signs-advertising-disguised-as-articles/ 7 Warning Signs Of Advertising Disguised As Articles]]"'''

[[folder:Radio]]
* In 1999, the aforementioned ''Series/MediaWatch'' exposed that on-air personalities on a talk radio station in Sydney had been endorsing various companies without disclosure. In one case, a host was suddenly praising banks that they had previously criticized for their excessive fees.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced, daytime lifestyle shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S., in which local businesses pay to have their employees or spokesperson appear as "guests" to plug their products in barely-disguised {{Infomercial}} segments. These shows are almost always produced by a station's creative services or sales department and kept separated from their actual news departments. Examples include the UrExample that is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]'' (produced by Tampa's Media General-owned NBC affiliate WFLA. Some of their other stations, especially those owned by predecessor LIN, air similar shows), ''The Morning Blend'' (primarily used by the former Journal Broadcast Group stations, now owned by Scripps -- who has since [[DuelingShows introduced]] a version of it for its existing ABC affiliate in Tampa too), WKBW's ''AM Buffalo'' (they're also owned by Scripps, but this program was carried over from its Granite ownership), and Meredith's syndicated ''Better'', which could have local cut-ins and co-brandings of this nature, a la ''Evening Magazine''.

Laws in some regions, particularly in regards to broadcasting, require advertorials to be properly and clearly disclaimed, or they may be considered payola. Though in some cases, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney they still might not be.]] This phomonenon has also spread to the internet, as websites have increasingly published "sponsored content" that, much like video news releases, are presented as being editorial content, but are written or heavily influenced by a third-part to promote a certain product or business.

Often known as "native advertising," an "advertorial" or "fake news", this is when a media outlet runs or otherwise distributes content that ''looks'' like a typical news story discussing that great new drug you've never heard of (or similar), but in reality, is literally just an advertisement written by the company who makes it, poorly disguised to look like editorial content, and often featuring flowery, press release-like language in praise of its advertiser.

[[folder:Music]]
* 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]].

Laws in some regions, particularly in regards to broadcasting, require advertorials to be properly and clearly disclaimed, or they may be considered payola. Though in some cases, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney they still might not be.]] This phomonenon has also spread to the internet, as websites have increasingly published "sponsored content" that, much like video news releases, consist mainly of content written by a third-party to promote a certain product or business that is presented as being editorial content.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced, daytime lifestyle shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S., which frequently feature thinly-veiled {{Infomercial}} segments where local businesses pay to have their employees or spokesperson appear as "guests" to plug their products. Likewise, to ensure integrity, these shows are almost always produced by a station's creative services or sales department and kept separated from their actual news departments. Examples include the UrExample that is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]'' (produced by Tampa's Media General-owned NBC affiliate WFLA. Some of their other stations, especially those owned by predecessor LIN, air similar shows), ''The Morning Blend'' (primarily used by the former Journal Broadcast Group stations, now owned by Scripps -- who has since [[DuelingShows introduced]] a version of it for its existing ABC affiliate in Tampa too), WKBW's ''AM Buffalo'' (they're also owned by Scripps, but this program was carried over from its Granite ownership), and Meredith's syndicated ''Better'', which could have local cut-ins and co-brandings of this nature, a la ''Evening Magazine''.

* This is the modus operandi of the locally-produced, daytime lifestyle shows seen on some TV stations in the U.S., which frequently feature thinly-veiled {{Infomercial}} segments where local businesses pay to have their employees or spokesperson appear as "guests" to plug their products. Likewise, to ensure integrity, these shows are almost always produced by a station's creative services or sales department and kept separated from their actual news departments. Examples include the UrExample that is literally called ''[[CaptainObvious Daytime]]'' (produced by Tampa's NBC affiliate WFLA), ''The Morning Blend'' (primarily used by the former Journal Broadcast Group stations, now owned by Scripps -- who [[DuelingShows introduced]] a version of it for its existing ABC affiliate in Tampa), WKBW's ''AM Buffalo'' (they're also owned by Scripps, but this program was carried over from its Granite ownership), and Meredith's syndicated ''Better'', which could have local cut-ins and co-brandings of this nature, a la ''Evening Magazine''.

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