Oh boy, where to start? So, everyone and their cat has these ambassador gigs, right? Usually, it’s all about getting influencers to hype their stuff or whatever. Nothing too spicy. But then, out of nowhere, Pimax—those folks who make VR headsets—decides to do something, uh, memorable. They got caught trying to spark fake enthusiasm online. Astroturfing, basically. Yeah, got tangled up in their own web.
So here’s what went down. This Reddit user, ‘Mavgaming1’ (no idea why the name matters, but we roll with it), dropped a bomb. They showed off a secret chat from Pimax’s Discord. Apparently, Pimax wanted people to join this, you know, “Community Engagement Program”—a fancy way of saying, “Please write nice things about us and we’ll give you stuff.”
And what’s the swag for these “enthusiastic” posts? Everything from $5 Steam cards to, wait for it, reduced-price trips to Shanghai. Sounds tempting if you’re into VR tourism, I guess.
The whole gig was: make a cheerful post about Pimax on Reddit or whatever, submit it for company approval (yep, that’s not suspicious at all), and voilà, points accumulated. They even had a cheat sheet of post ideas like “Your First VR Experience with Pimax” and other smiles-galore stuff.
But then, bam, everything derailed. Pimax had to admit that the plan wasn’t officially okayed (depends on who you ask, huh?). They insisted it was just a handful of employees going rogue. Okay, but why did it feel so… organized?
Jaap Grolleman, their head of talking-to-the-public, claimed they’ve never paid for positive press. Uh-huh. Says it was the handiwork of a few overzealous employees. Only a small circle got the whole sales pitch, apparently. Just three meticulous messages and that’s it—or so they claim.
And not to beat a dead horse, but could’ve been a legal mishap too. The FTC kind of frowns upon sneaky tactics like this. Basically, the law sees paying folks for positive vibes without disclosing it as a big no-no. Like, serious ‘don’t-do-that’ territory.
Globally, the rules are similar. In the UK and across Europe, the same deal—they want transparency. No astroturfing allowed, thanks very much.
It’s messy, but it’s fascinating to see how these things unravel. Like watching a slow-motion tumble, with legalities and awkward explanations flying everywhere. Fun times, huh?
Anyway… yeah, not the best look for Pimax.
