An advertisement seemingly published by Amazon on Tiktok's short-video streaming platform has gone viral. The surreal TikTok advert first appeared on Wednesday, leading some users to think that it was Amazon's way of using trending internet memes and humor to increase its customer base.
The advertisement mainly used characters from the popular online video game Roblox and music clips from songs such as T-Pain's 2008 hit "Low" and "Apple Bottom Jeans." The ad included video game footage and absurd dialogue about grandmas.
The video caught the public's attention after Eddy Burback - an online influencer and YouTuber - posted a screengrab on his Twitter account. He expressed his surprise in seeing an Amazon ad on the streaming platform in his original post.
The weird video with robotic voices included a small banner ad at the bottom with Amazon's logo and the text "Shop our favorites for the home." The end of the video then shows a pop-up ad with the Amazon logo further advertising how users can get added benefits if they shop at Amazon using its app.
The link attached to the banner ad and the pop-up leads to an Amazon search results page for the term "revealhome1." The page includes product posts for items such as kitchen accessories and home decorations. Some had initially speculated that the ad could have been a failed attempt at promoting an Amazon referral code. Buying a product on Amazon through a referral code gives an affiliate a commission on purchases made.
this was an amazon ad I got on tik tok???
this is 100% real I just recorded it pic.twitter.com/cST0JoKb33 — Eddy Burback (@eddyburback) August 4, 2021
On Thursday, Amazon issued an official statement denying that it was responsible for the bizarre advertisement and that it had paid for the placement. The company claimed that the ad was a fake and that it had already launched an investigation into the issue. The company said it will be working with TikTok to find out how the ad had gotten into its platform.
On the same day, TikTok said that the advert wasn't fraudulent and was instead a result of a technical issue. A company spokesperson said the Amazon ad creative was accidentally applied to a different video because of the issue. TikTok said it has already fixed the problem and no other Amazon should be appearing in other people's personal posts.
