oops… I mean… how much can I sell my integrity for… i mean… uhhhhh….
Integrity (noun)
Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Now let’s talk integrity!!! 🙂
And now the FTC is involved, taking the time to ding Machinima for the behavior and enjoining it to never do anything similar in the future.
In a press release today, the FTC announced that the two parties have come to a settlement that will prevent Machinima from pulling this sort of shadiness again. Writes the FTC: “Under the proposed settlement, Machinima is prohibited from similar deceptive conduct in the future, and the company is required to ensure its influencers clearly disclose when they have been compensated in exchange for their endorsements.”
The FTC also cited specific examples of Machinima’s actions, including naming personalities that were involved, helpfully torpedoing those personalities’ ability to get fans to trust them in the future.
Respondent paid influencer Adam Dahlberg $15,000 for the two video reviews that he uploaded to his YouTube channel “SkyVSGaming.” In his videos, Dahlberg speaks favorably of Microsoft, Xbox One, and Ryse. Dahlberg’s videos appear to be independently produced and give the impression that they reflect his personal views. Nowhere in the videos or in the videos’ descriptions did Dahlberg disclose that Respondent paid him to create and upload them. Dahlberg’s first video received more than 360,000 views, and his second video more than 250,000 views.
Respondent paid influencer Tom Cassell $30,000 for the two video reviews that he uploaded to his YouTube channel “TheSyndicateProject.” In his videos, Cassell speaks favorably of Microsoft, Xbox One, and Ryse. Cassell’s videos appear to be independently produced and give the impression that they reflect his personal views. Nowhere in the videos or in the videos’ descriptions did Cassell disclose that Respondent paid him to create and upload them. Cassell’s first video received more than 730,000 views, and his second video more than 300,000 views.
Source: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150902/10280832145/ftc-spotlights-reputation-hole-machinima-dug-itself-with-undisclosed-paid-xbox-pimp-posts.shtml
You know what… let’s do the math. Let’s find out how much integrity is worth (at least in this case).
So let’s take the total number of views at the time… 730,000 + 300,000 = 1,030,000
And then take how much Cassell made for the videos… 30,000 / 1,030,000 = 0.029
So Tom Cassell sold his integrity for 2.9 cents per viewer!
Huh… you wouldn’t think that 2.9 cents per person would be enough for a person to sell their integrity… Anyways, now we know! For performance artists you can expect to sell your integrity for a fantastic 3 cents per person!
But ‘integrity fun times with Tom Cassell‘ doesn’t end there!!!
Which brings us to two YouTube personalities, TmarTn and Syndicate Project, whose real names are Trevor Martin and Tom Cassell. These two have spent a great deal of time urging their followers to use the CSGO Lotto website while, at best, barely disclosing the site’s sponsorship, and never even coming close to acknowledging that they are executives of the company behind the site.
Trevor Martin and Tom Cassell, known online as TmarTn and Syndicate Project, uploaded videos in which they appeared to win big prizes playing CSGO Lotto. But it has emerged that the pair are presidents of the company, which is incorporated in Florida.
Mr Cassell apologised on Twitter to those who felt misled. In a YouTube video message to his followers, which he later deleted, Mr Martin said that the ownership of CSGO Lotto had “never been a secret”.“I created the site. I wanted to build something awesome for other people to enjoy and I played on it,” he said. “Obviously, on my end, me playing on Lotto rather than other sites, gives me an advantage because it promotes my own site, but it is not immoral, there is nothing wrong with it. I am 100% honest.”
Source: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160706/06463534900/two-youtubers-about-to-learn-that-trust-is-valuable-commodity-that-you-can-only-lose-once.shtml
100% honest.
Yeah.
Okay.