Vinfast sent an offer to a Youtuber who gave them one of their most critical reviews.
Kyle Conner, one of the leads behind Out of Spec Reviews on Youtube,shared with his Twitter followers that Vinfast e-mailed him an offer for $300 (7,039,500 VND) in exchange for a TikTok video as short as 15 seconds.
Check out Conner’s tweet below.
If you’re wondering why this is particularly ironic, Out of Spec reviews posted up a 45-minute review of Vinfast’s prototypes during a Las Vegas press drive two months ago where, like most all his channel’s videos, Conner was completely and brutally honest about his driving experience.
The title of his video and the last sentence of his concluding thoughts in the comments should give you an idea of just how bad his driving experience was.
“If VinFast put half the amount of money into engineering instead of the crazy marketing they’re doing, they may have a desirable product,” Conner concluded in the comments of his Youtube video.
Conner wasn’t the only one to get this e-mail as several of his followers and fellow influencers confirmed as such.
I got this the other day for my channel,unfortunately not an automotive Co like you lols
— Stuart Thomas (@beefcayke) April 1, 2023
Lol got the same email
— Miles Somerville (@SomeOfMiles) April 1, 2023
And, according to this reply, it reads like at least one TikTok influencer already took Vinfast up on their offer.
Someone already made Tiktok
— Gordus (@medicgordus) April 1, 2023
This latest peek behind Vinfast’s marketing strategy in the United States comes on the heels of my previous blog post (linked here) which revealed that Vinfast was willing to pay influencers upwards of $10,000, on top of an all-expense paid, multi-day trip to Vietnam, to check out their manufacturing facilities.
It’s important to share this as, according to a MarketPlace report last year, TikTok has a problem with paid ads going undisclosed.
“The Federal Trade Commission has rules around truth in advertising, including in the realm of social media influencers. If your post or video has a paid endorsement in it, the FTC says you’re required to “make it obvious when you have a relationship (‘material connection’) with the brand.”
This isn’t some $5 eyeliner that’s being promoted here, these are full-size electric SUVs that start out at $50,000.
All this is worth keeping in mind when scrolling through social media and you come across a VinFast video from an influencer.
As for Conner, while he probably one take them up on their offer, he does say they offered him too little.
It would have to be at least 10x for a short form TikTok and we don’t accept any payment from automakers
— Kyle Conner (@itskyleconner) April 1, 2023
