[Clamchop]

Humor, irreverence, formality, political correctness, or whatever quality doesn't seem to be the issue so much as it is authenticity of any kind.

But advertising never was authentic. The goal is to drive sales using whatever tools the audience can tolerate, however shameless, and advertising has always pushed boundaries, followed by the inevitable wave of copycats that turn the innovative into the mundane.

The tool in this case is constructing a parasocial sockpuppet personality as if McDonald's or whatever deserves a seat at your digital table in between your actual friends. When everyone is just an avatar grinding for likes and followers anyway, they might as well be.

[vimax]

Great take. I feel like the personal brand influencers love seeing ads, they look up to high budget ads as the culture they should be emulating.