ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the argumentative features of these advertisements, particularly examining the ways in which the suasive possibilities and constraints change when advertisers embed commercial arguments in digital media networks. Native advertising goes by many names: advertorials, branded journalism, integrated content, partner content, sponsored content, and transmedia branding, among others. Advertisements that take on the formal features of non-advertisements present an opportunity for argumentation scholars to analyze how this move changes the way the advertisements function as arguments. Sponsored articles in outlets like The New York Times constitute the most obvious example of native advertising. Reviewing cases like ghostwritten articles and Wikipedia edits show the lengths to which corporations are willing to go to ensure their messages get past audiences’ source credibility filters. While Wikipedia has since returned the page to its original standing and both Wikipedia and Google have condemned the advertisement, the final case shows just how vulnerable different areas of our modern lifeworld are to corporate colonization.
