Pictures, Pen Names, Products, and Ethics
I posted a question today on a forum I frequent. The post was about the ethics of using a fake picture to represent yourself. I recently found out that a product I’m promoting uses a stock photo which is perceived as the product creator.
If you have been following this blog, you will know in the case of the Kimkins diet scam that one of the problems was the creator Heidi Diaz using fake pictures to represent herself, as well as other pictures to represent successful testimonials to sell the diet. In that particular case she did not use stock photos but actually used photos taken (allegedly stolen) from Russian brides websites.
So here I am faced with the fake picture scenario again. The product in question does not say anything like “you will look like me if you buy this product.” The product itself is sound. It is not harmful in any way, it works. The only thing in question is the picture provided on the site of the product creator. I have been made aware of a picture of the same person being used on another site.
I was sent an email by a furious subscriber. They unsubscribed from my list all because that picture is a fake. They claimed that it questions my credibility.
I do my darndest to find products that are not a scam, and I personally purchase and look at the products before suggesting them to anyone else. And as much investigation as I can do, it would have been nearly impossible for me to find out that the picture used in this case was a fake without someone else seeing it somewhere.
A lot of times, marketers will use purchased stock photos to make their sales page pretty. Many marketers use pen names to write articles about what they are promoting – especially when they are promoting some very different niches. Does this make the product less effective?
People have different reasons for doing these things. It is a very gray area I’m dealing with. Is the product creator selling a product based on what they look like?
If someone purchases the product based on what the person looks like, then they are purchasing this particular product for entirely the wrong reason.
If someone purchases this product based on my recommendation but I lie in my recommendation then that is a whole other ball of wax.
I have never confirmed that the picture used to represent the person was one and the same. I have done all I can with the exception of showing up on this persons doorstep to see if they are who they say they are.
As an affiliate, I look for safe and useful products that do what they say they do.
As a product creator, I would never use a fake photo of myself. That is where my ethics are.
In this particular circumstance, I am just an affiliate, not the product creator. I like this product, and I think for the price it is a fair value.
This was a really tough thing to work out, but I’m confident with my current choice.
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