Item — HN Reader

It's not all that muddy under normal circumstances - if there are payments to the producers then it's an ad. There is the problem in extremis though - a person gets a cameo on a show and then uses that to sell other products and in return helps out the producer in some non-obvious way.

It's an issue but I'd be happy with a 90% solution over a 0% solution.

1 comments

Ok but what if you're allowed to watch the movie/game/etc. for free before general release? That might not seem like payment, after all it's just necessary to allow the review to happen. But what if review sites that give a few bad reviews are denied this access? And no one wants to read reviews after release?

In the end, on paper, the studio has no editorial oversight, but in practice you need to give them good reviews (essentially, adverts) if your business is to survive.

This is exactly how it works, by the way.

Would they get to watch it for free if they release their review months after the movie is released? If no, then it’s an ad, with just a very low price.