The debate at Buzzfeed really did become quite unusually passionate. I guess my taking on “native advertizing” and “sponsored content” in the belly of the company that has pioneered and thrived off them was a little provocative. But it was also huge fun and aired what I think we all could agree were salient issues that merit more discussion. I’ll be posting something tomorrow.
But meanwhile it behooves me to note that after before* my earlier post, Buzzfeed’s Joseph Bernstein followed up with a stringent review of the PlayStation4, which you can read here. It’s not an ad. It’s a piece of thoughtful criticism. Which is a distinction I think Buzzfeed should begin to emphasize more (ever thought of adding the simple word “Advertisement” atop an advertisement that deliberately looks like the rest of the product?), or risk the impression that their “new” form of advertizing is actually just the oldest profession in the world.
*Technically Bernstein’s review went up a mere five minutes before my post, according to the timestamps.
The Dish 