“Wow, you have beautiful shoes!”
“Thanks…” …and that’s where the author could have stopped.
But oh no. Not in this economy. Not on this platform.
Because I’m not a person.
I’m a case study.
I used to be the type who said, “They were on sale!”
Today I know it wasn’t a sale.
It was an identity.
Psychology calls it cognitive… (insert any Latin‑looking word here).
And you know what? We all do it.
Me, you, and the guy selling “authenticity” courses at the end of his post.
Because when you buy something on sale, you win.
And when you win, you deserve to…
…click the link.
And here comes the “insight”:
When we keep justifying our purchases, we lower our own value.
Terrible, right?
Which is why we should raise our value by…
…buying something else, this time “mindfully”.
Preferably a course for your cognitive (repeat Latin word from above).
Btw, if you struggle with this, I have a community for you.
For the price of one coffee.
And coffee is a love language, isn’t it?
The “Recipe” for Hidden Advertising
Ingredients:
- 1× everyday situation (shoes/bread/kids / Monday)
- 1× tiny shame/guilt/trauma (“I used to do this for years”)
- 1× expert term (can be made up, nobody checks)
- 1× universal truth (“we all know this”)
- 3× emojis (mandatory: one facepalm)
- 1× “I don’t do this anymore” (always works)
- 1× “btw” with a link (pretends to be casual, but it’s the main course)
Method:
Mix intimacy with the feeling that the reader is “part of the story”.
Warm gently over the heat of validation (“you’re not alone”).
Finish with a drizzle of “solution” in the form of a product.
Serve as enlightenment.
Authenticity that happens to be an ad
Tick all that apply:
- “I used to do this for years.”
- “You know the feeling?”
- “Psychology calls it…”
- “And what’s worse…”
- “This lowers our self‑worth.”
- “I don’t do this anymore.”
- “I have my heart-favourites.”
- “I cut everything else mercilessly.”
- “When I want joy, I buy it.”
- “Btw… community/course/e-book / mentoring.”
- “For the price of one coffee.”
- Emojis.
Score:
If you have 6+, it’s native advertising dressed up as therapy.
A few notes
This format is popular because it’s marketing disguised as humanity:
- It doesn’t sell a product. It sells the feeling that someone understands you.
- It doesn’t say “buy”. It says “heal (and here’s the link)”.
- It doesn’t argue. It builds an emotional tunnel:
shame → relief → solution → payment
And the smartest trick?
The ad starts as a confession.
So if you see through it, you look “cynical”.
If you don’t, you look “positive”.
Win‑win… for the author.
In short
- “Thank you for your honesty. The link is beautifully hidden under the carpet of emotions.”
- “I love this: shame as the hook, community as the cure.”
- “Authenticity level: Btw, buy authenticity.”
- “Psychology calls it: a conversion funnel.”