John Oliver on Sponsored Content: Hilarious

Never one to pull punches, funny Brit John Oliver takes on native ads and sponsored content in a recent video diatribe.

Oliver is merciless on Time Inc.’s CEO Joseph Ripp and his position on the topic, who posits that “as long as it’s clearly marked, as long as the consumer knows the difference between what’s editorial and what’s native, I don’t see any problem with it at all.”

The problem? The consumer cannot tell the difference, not even half the time, according to stats that Oliver cites.

“Quite frankly, I’ve changed church and state as you know,” Ripp continues, referring to the recent shake up in the Time bullpens that moved editorial under the business department.

“We took that [the separation of editorial and advertising] away and we said the editors are now working for the business side of the business,” Ripp explains. “But frankly I think they’re happier, they’re more excited about it, because no longer are we asking ourselves the question ‘Are we violating church and state’, whatever that was.”

Oliver’s response is incredulous, hilarious and spot-on.

“Ads are baked into content like chocolate chips into a cookie, except it’s actually more like raisins into a cookie, because nobody [expletive] wants them there.”

We won’t give away any more; you have to watch this one for yourself.