I mean, sure, it’s profoundly unethical, especially given that the “punters” aren’t told about the fees. This all began with co-op ads, where a retailer and a manufacturer split advertising costs– say, a music publisher giving out posters to a record store, or a beer distributor giving out neon signs– and moved into things like book publishers paying Borders a million dollars to put a particular item at the front of the store. Or, say, Unwrapped, on the Food Network, where the food manufacturers actually provide the vast majority of the show’s footage, (and likely the entire production budget).
Yay ethics! Bring on the B-Roll! Bring out the payola! I want me some kickbacks!
Secretly Ironic 