TeenVogue/Facebook sponsored content thing blows up badly

Wow, this blew up and imploded fast.

Ladies, gentlemen, and others, I present to you the terrible consequences of an ill-thought-out sponsored content gambit by Teen Vogue involving Facebook payola to make us think they're actually doing something to ensure our election security in 2020.

This is the fastest media scandal ever, too. The piece went up first not identified as editorial content. Then, a label was added. And finally, the piece was taken down altogether.

Wow. Not so woke, Teen Vogue. And nice try, Facebook PR! You're still slimeballs.

interesting pivot for Teen Vogue here to… Facebook PR? https://t.co/9piUkJOHYW

— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) January 8, 2020

Some weird things going on with this Teen Vogue story I’m seeing lots of Facebook employees share today https://t.co/lveRoORpaa

— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) January 8, 2020

Timeline for the vogue article:
Not labeled as spon on publish
Labeled as spon by 9:08
not labeled as spon at 9:53
taken down by 9:57

— Matthew Panzarino (@panzer) January 8, 2020

Publishing this sort of uncritical corporate propaganda is especially noxious on a website like Teen Vogue.

The website's demographic doesn't remember in a world without Facebook.

To frame this as a fun guide to election integrity is shameful.https://t.co/fimjbUVDqg pic.twitter.com/kK4HVQSERM

— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) January 8, 2020

Teen Vogue / Facebook article now appears to have been removed: pic.twitter.com/kY3IFWw8m9

— Alexandra S. Levine (@Ali_Lev) January 8, 2020

Let's play a fun game of spot the difference between 20 minutes ago and now pic.twitter.com/bfbVTw6peQ

— nathan ma (@nthnashma) January 8, 2020

Teen Vogue is gonna need the Pentagon to confirm that deleted Facebook post was only a draft memo

— Alex Konrad (@alexrkonrad) January 8, 2020

teen vogue just added a disclaimer to the post. it's literally a Facebook ad. https://t.co/7tLyXmP5gY

— dell cameron (@dellcam) January 8, 2020

Even sketchier, Teen Vogue's Facebook "article" is both unbylined and has been put in their "government" vertical, which when you click on it goes... nowhere? pic.twitter.com/ztAgfcRwOp

— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) January 8, 2020