Came across this ‘content’ on Flipboard – the news aggregation service, dubbed as a social magazine. The content, is actually sponsored by Delta Airlines and pertains to ‘The Science of Sleep’. While it has several articles about sleep, the view can get that this is an attempt to promote the flat beds on Delta Airlines. But the way its been done is pretty interesting (and scary, at one level) – it blends with the design code of Flipboard and appears like editorial content.
So is it like paid advertising made notorious by the likes of TOI? Where an average reader is led to believe that a certain content is genuine reporting but turns out that it is paid advertising by a brand? I guess there is enough branding in the Flipboard section to make it apparent that the content is sponsored by Delta Airlines. Nevertheless, this is another interestign avatar of new media.