One of the perks of being a woman of a certain age entering a certain phase: wild body-shape fluctuations that render much of your current closet contents unwearable.

It’s great! 12/10, would recommend 👍👍👍

Last week, while packing for a quick getaway, I realized I’d Poshmarked my now-ill-fitting sundresses, shorts, and other suitable beach items. So I panic-shopped and bought roughly 83% of Amazon, the only site that would deliver within 48 hours.

Of course, this was the day before a friend told me about a Chrome extension called Fakespot. It pops up on every ecommerce site with warnings based on product reviews, transaction issues, consumer complaints, and more.

I ran it on my Amazon order and saw 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 all the way down.
Here are warnings from just one item:

…………

What does an online shopper have to go on if 78.9% of the reviews are fake, and the item descriptions and size charts are just…fully made up?

And what do our customers have to go on if 57%* of online businesses market with scarcity and fear of failure, wild income claims, Cinderella stories, outdated certifications, and irrelevant testimonials? 

I’d guess we’ve all been burned at some point… It’s no wonder everyone is so jaded.

Where’s Fakespot for…everything else?

Spoiler: It doesn’t exist yet. We’re probably all stuck with “critical thinking” and whisper networks for a while. 

And as marketers, it’s on us to Fakespot ourselves. 

Most of us aren’t selling a $12 T-shirt customers can send back for an instant refund without ever speaking to a human: The stakes are higher, the investment ask is bigger, and that means our responsibility is even bigger. 

Is our copy clear?
Is it true?
Is it transparent? 

Are we making reasonable promises?
Selling a transformation our people can actually achieve as a result of working with us?

It’s up to us to watch for our own unintentional 🚩🚩

Looking for a non-AI bullshit detector? Book an hour or two with me to audit your website copy, review your latest email campaign, or brainstorm some fresh ways to marketing your shiz (or skillz) without being a skeeze.

And if you want a deep dive into garbage online business practices (and how we can fight ‘em), you absolutely must listen to Michelle Mazur and Maggie Patterson’s Duped podcast. Trust me on this.