A founder wanted me to endorse his product

Recently, an acquaintance reached out:
“Bro, the founder of the company I work with loves your posts. He wants to #collaborate with you for brand endorsements.”
I asked, “What exactly do you want me to do?”
“Just write how your life changed using our product. He’s willing to pay well.”

So basically…
Trade independent thought for #money?
“Come on, bro, everyone does this. For money, people promote anything.”

Maybe that’s the problem.
Somewhere along the way, we normalized selling opinions.
- We criticize politicians for being influenced.
- We criticize the media for being sponsored.
But when it comes to our own content?
“It’s just #monetization.”

If I say something is great because I was paid to say it, that’s not influence.
That’s advertising disguised as authenticity.
And the scary part?
The audience often can’t tell the difference.

If you want to collaborate with me, walk me through the product.
Let me test it. Let me form an opinion.
You’ll get a post backed by facts, positive or negative, depending on how good the product actually is.
Afraid, he backed off.

In today’s creator economy, many posts are driven purely by money.
Influencers will sell almost anything for a few bucks.
At least for me, till now, the freedom to write without bias is worth more.