Oprah’s official denials of pay-for-endorsement left the question deliberately unresolved

Evidence

A reporter for Advertising Age who asked whether ad buys were helpful for gaining endorsements, described Oprah’s answers as “a tad vague.” Indeed they were: “Editorial and creative decisions drive mentions and product inclusions on the show. If a brand gets mentioned, it is as often serendipity as it is business. When we do partner with brands, it is usually because we have an editorial direction we’re pursuing.” In other words, advertising usually didn’t matter, but it didn’t not matter either. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 804

Categorization

• XREF: The double-negative evasion echoes the book’s running theme of attention merchants maintaining plausible deniability about harvesting — as with earlier radio payola and later algorithmic opacity. — connects to: Oprah blended unpaid endorsements with paid advertising in her broadcasts — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 801