3 - Advertising Ethics

Hannah Diffee

Professor Reppert

Media Law and Ethics

Feb. 2025

3 - Advertising Ethics

An Exploration of TikTok Shop: The Good and the Ugly

Like other social media platforms, TikTok is known for inundating users with advertisements. It is nearly impossible for users to browse the app without encountering some form of advertising, including in-feed ads, influencer promotions (often called "spark ads"), and affiliate links. Technological advancements have significantly changed the advertising industry, and the video app is leading the way in digital ads by seamlessly integrating them into users' scrolling experiences. 

Nowadays, many companies have moved beyond creating their own advertisements and seek to collaborate with influencers or gain customers organically. Most "Get Ready with Me" videos on TikTok serve as advertisements in disguise, even if influencers are not directly paid or sponsored by a brand to showcase their products. Consumers are likely to purchase products recommended by influencers they trust, so any amount of brand promotion is beneficial. 

Over 16 million TikToks have been posted with the hashtag #grwm, demonstrating the potential for brands to reach new customers through those videos.

@atx_genie199 It’s already Friday? #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #blowthisup #hairstyle #outfit #outfits #outfitinspo #makeup #makeupinspo #jewelry #lipsync #audios #sounds #audiostouse #soundstouse #audiogirl #genie #GRWM#grwm ♬ original sound - Geniee 👸🏻🤍

Above: Notice how she discusses each product she uses and keeps the product names visible throughout the video.

TikTok's rapid rise in popularity, from 465.7 million users in 2020 to 900.7 million in 2024, has made it an essential tool for advertisers. By advertising on the platform, sellers can reach vast audiences eager to spend money on new products. The app heavily influences consumer behavior, with 92% of TikTok users taking action (clicking on a link, browsing product selections, etc.) after watching a video and 37% buying a product or service they have seen advertised (TikTok). 

In 2020, the app introduced its TikTok for Businesses service, which allows businesses to launch advertising campaigns, view analytics, and reach new customers more efficiently than ever. Selling products was made even simpler in September 2023 with the introduction of TikTok Shop, an e-commerce feature that allows brands to sell products directly in the app. According to its 2024 Economic Impact Report, the platform generated $15 billion in revenue for U.S. small businesses in 2023, with over seven million of those businesses relying on the app to sell their products.

Above: In 2023, small and midsized businesses (SMBs) saw an 88% increase in sales after advertising their products or services on TikTok.

Beware: You May Not Get What You Pay For
While TikTok has helped grow millions of legitimate businesses, not all advertisers on the platform are ethical. Among popular products from well-known brands are ads for questionable products from even more dubious sources. Many sellers on TikTok claim to be well-established but have no digital presence outside the app, apart from suspicious "shells" of websites. Many sellers also recycle videos from other companies and use influencers' videos, without permission, to make them appear authentic. In a 2023 video, Safiya Nygaard sought to solve the mystery of fake TikTok brands and discover where brands selling the (supposedly) same dress got their products from.

Safiya Nygaard

Safiya Nygaard is a YouTuber who gained popularity through her work with Buzzfeed. She now has a solo YouTube channel and is known for her pop culture, lifestyle, and beauty challenge videos, notably her Bad Makeup Science Experiments series. The series includes titles like "Mixing Every Lip Gloss From Sephora Together" and "I Melted Every Yankee Candle Together Into A Giant Candle." Safiya's analytical approach gives viewers an insight into the value and durability of the products she tests, allowing them to experience things and products they may never try. As Safiya often states, "The internet made me do it."

Video: "I Bought The Same Dress For $4, $30, $60, and $200"

In this video, Safiya examines hundreds of TikTok listings for what seems to be the same dress from multiple companies at many different prices. Although the dress name varies from company to company, it is typically promoted as some version of a "floral midriff shaper corset sundress." The listings feature videos from at least 90 content creators, 36 of which she could identify. Of those, 32 indicated in their original videos that they were wearing a House of CB dress, not one from the companies that used their videos. 

One creator, Victoria Shaz, had her video edited and used in various ways by at least 36 sellers, "with the audio track from her video used as a voice-over in 19 different ads." 

**Watch this clip from Safiya's video**

Many videos about the dress included reviews, most of which Safiya discovers were fabricated. Of the more than 100 reviews she examined, 51 contained photos posted on multiple websites under different customer names. For instance, Christine Tran Ferguson's image appeared on at least 11 websites under names such as Agatha, Sam, Teresa, and Sandra.

In the final section of her video, Safiya purchases the House of CB dress as her "control" and three other dresses that use its advertisements to see how they differ. One dress never arrives. Unsurprisingly, the dresses that do arrive are wildly different. None of them have corset ties, and some are the wrong color or even the wrong dress entirely. Safiya's experience reveals the startling nature of TikTok shops, cautioning users to be mindful of their purchases and aware of the prevalence of misleading ads.

"I think it's troubling that so much of the material on these websites is straight-up stolen and that there are no verified images of the actual product that these websites are selling."

- Safiya Nygaard

More Resources:

Is TikTok Shop Legit?

TikTok - How to Avoid Counterfeit Products