Unsponsored Content

Posted on May 5, 2016 by The Double Thumb in Unsponsored Content, Updates // 0 Comments

Advertising is a tricky subject in this business. On the plus side, ads bring in money which allows a website to continue functioning. Unfortunately, all too often these ads end up becoming intrusive and distracting from the actual content of the site. In the worst cases, they can actually warp the very nature of the content, as site owners become beholden to the companies which keep them afloat through ad revenue.

This latter outcome is simply unthinkable for a publication such as The Double Thumb. So much of what we do here revolves around unfiltered experiences. Our writers must be free to discuss their opinions openly, without the worry that some mega corporation will pull away the teat if they say the wrong thing about its product.

While this mindset is certainly laudable, we do still have to pay the light bill. In fact, there is a crazy amount of expenditures that go into keeping this company afloat. General utilities, writer’s salaries, server maintenance, funeral costs, environmental fines, and political bribes, just to name a few. It is expensive to run an operation as large as The Double Thumb. Therefore, we need a reliable source of income.

Considering the aforementioned risk of compromising our integrity, we believe that we have come up with a solution: run ads that no one pays us for. Initially, at least.

That’s right. Going forward, The Double Thumb will occasionally post a clear and blatant advertisement that not one person will have asked us to publish, especially not anyone associated with the product or company in question.

It is our belief that by choosing beforehand which entities we wish to support, we avoid being forced to bend to the whims of the corporate masters who bankroll us. Should a particular company see themselves advertised on our site and wish to retroactively give us money, we will be more than happy to accept. So long as that money comes with the understanding that we put up these ads because we want to, not because we have to.

We believe that this policy offers the clearest path forward and aligns best with our organization’s mission statement. Should you as a citizen or business owner have any questions or concerns about this new stance, please feel free to post them in the comments below.

Thank you for reading and please shop at Target.