Serious question about those "you won't believe what happened next" thumbnails

Got into an argument with my brother because he thinks doctoring thumbnails is "just marketing" while I say it's straight up lying. Where do you draw the line between a creative hook and a straight up deception?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith2743d ago

Yeah but where do you draw that line though? Like I saw one of those "scientists baffled" thumbnails where it was clearly just a guy in a cheap mask photoshopped onto a desert background, and the actual video was about a weird rock formation. That's not creative marketing, that's just lying. My thing is if the thumbnail couldnt possibly happen in real life, or if it shows something that literally never appears in the video, that's deception. A little exaggeration like a funny face or a dramatic crop is one thing, but straight up fabricating a whole scenario crosses a line for me.

wood.uma3d ago

Feel you on that @keith274, the mask photoshop thing is such a blatant lie that it just makes me lose trust in the whole channel. It's like they think we're all idiots who can't tell real from fake, which is insulting honestly. I'm totally with you on the line being drawn at things that literally never happen in the actual video.

phoenix_martin403d ago

@keith274 reminds me of that pizza place that photoshopped pepperoni onto a cheese pizza in their ads.