When YouTubers and TikTokers race to make money, regardless of right or wrong

Everyone is racing to become TikToker and YouTuber, dreaming of becoming famous and earning a lot of money - Photo: DUC THIEN

There are many videos on the internet that review and experience products and services without objective assessment, completely under contract with the brand and manufacturer, posted by more and more people working as "reviewers".

Livestreams introducing products and selling products are full of flowery words - regardless of quality - according to pre-written scripts to entice users to pay to order...

Talk good about the product, talk... nonsense to get money

Having built a content creation channel with tens of thousands of followers on both YouTube and TikTok, H. constantly boasts everywhere that he is a famous expert in product reviews and evaluations.

H.'s channels also earn quite a few contracts from many technology and electronic product brands. However, most of H.'s new product review videos are just praise and... praise, according to contracts with media companies or brands.

"When a brand or media company places an order, the channel will create a script, produce the content and get approval from the brand before it can be published. The content must of course always speak well of the brand's products and services to be paid," the manager of a media company "revealed" to Tuoi Tre about the operating process of social media channels like H..

According to Tuoi Tre's research, the amount paid for each "ordered" video to be broadcast on a channel with tens of thousands of followers like H. is usually around 10 million to several tens of million VND. Recently, review channels like H. have appeared a lot on social networking platforms TikTok, Instagram, Threads (Facebook)...

Many famous people have emerged from this trend with recognized knowledge and prestige, but there are also many people who self-proclaim or use technology to promote themselves as experts, freely "talking nonsense" about products, services, brands... as they please.

Livestreams and contract review videos, according to the brand and manufacturer's wishes, are increasingly being "blown away" by reviewers and livestreamers online, even regardless of product quality or objective views, instead just using flowery, scripted words to entice users to buy products or create subjective perspectives.

According to Tuoi Tre's research, brands often pay 2 - 25% commission to affiliate marketers, based on sales revenue.

For those who are ranked in the top sales via livestream, businesses are willing to pay an additional amount of tens of millions of VND or more to have them advertise and sell products on livestream sessions.

As for the "warriors" in the online sales world, the amount of money received is from 200 - 300 million VND or more, just to have their products appear and mentioned, thereby building reputation.

The appeal of online sales also contributed to the collapse of people who were once considered "idols" such as Quang Linh Vlogs, Miss Thuy Tien, or TikToker Hang Du Muc...

Huan "Hoa Hong" has a Facebook page with more than 3.7 million followers, is active in online business, and has emerged with the title of "internet gangster" and Pham Thoai (right) makes a lot of money from online sales, accompanied by a series of scandals - Photo: FBNV

Receive advertising money to sell fake and poor quality goods

As one of the influential KOLs online, achieving sales of more than 1 million USD/livestream sales session, L. (HCMC) said there is a big loophole in doing business on e-commerce platforms.

That is, the floor will approve products based on the provided documents, but these documents themselves can also be fake, or not true to the real quality of the product. Meanwhile, many people are willing to advertise, but do not have enough capacity and knowledge to evaluate.

In the market, Truong Nha Dinh, with millions of followers, once livestreamed selling cosmetics at only 1/4 or 1/5 of the original price of the brand.

However, it was later accused of selling fake goods. At the time the customer complained, the brand confirmed that it did not have a store on TikTok Shop and did not cooperate with any TikToker. The situation of being fooled by ignorance is also quite common among many other people.

"How can we know if those documents are real or fake, when most of us are just ordinary people. We just have a knack for talking, so we have many followers," a TikToker honestly shared. Although he thought he was careful, this person was still criticized for advertising and selling poor quality goods.

Even earlier this month, TikToker "Wet Little Cat" (real name Nhu Thao, with more than 1.1 million followers) also posted an apology, after being accused of over-advertising a series of products for acne treatment, hair growth spray, underarm darkening treatment... Including products that even caused irritation to customers when used.

Even children's products are falsely advertised. Typically, the TikTok channel Chuyen Nha Linh Bi (more than 1.2 million followers) was also called for a boycott, due to advertising Japan's top "calcium jelly" food.

But then it was exposed by customers that this item had no import papers, no child safety certification, and no documents proving that this product was top of the line in Japan. Facing strong reactions, the channel owner had to apologize and admit his mistake.

Two young people are making a review video about a newly launched product - Photo: DUC THIEN

The "butterfly" effect spreads wrong into right

Speaking with Tuoi Tre, communications expert Dy Khoa said that self-proclaimed "experts" on social media platforms have exploited very well the audience they are trying to communicate and disseminate information to.

"It may be intentional or unintentional, but they have skillfully used the "trick" of imposing "scientific information" on viewers and forcing them to think this is correct information.

"A lot of viewers really lose their critical thinking when faced with this type of information. When they can't distinguish right from wrong, the audience believes that this information is correct," Mr. Khoa analyzed.

Combined with the short video platform, many videos with the same content appearing repeatedly make it even more difficult for viewers' brains to detect gaps in the information provided by these KOLs.

This can easily cause consequences, first of all for themselves and their bodies, especially when they believe in buying health products that are not guaranteed in quality. And then, that viewer continues to spread the word and acts as a "0 dong" promoter for that product.

"The 'butterfly' effect will appear, leading to more and more people believing that the 'scientific information' is correct, leading to the risk of information distortion.

And in fact, many people, when showing health symptoms, have self-diagnosed themselves through "knowledge" collected from online platforms, leaving serious consequences," Mr. Khoa commented.

Need to tighten up on celebrity statements

According to some media experts, Vietnam has not yet had clear regulations on the right to speak for those who do not work in scientific fields but talk about science. A beauty who has no knowledge of nutrition but talks endlessly about the ingredients in a supplement candy.

Or an actor who knows nothing about illness but talks very smoothly about liver and gallbladder supplements.

"Perhaps it is time for Vietnam to tighten standards for this type of speech. Or require participation in training courses to ensure basic knowledge before communicating to the public. Course certificates will be the basis for being granted a certificate to practice product promotion," an expert suggested.

Show off your wealth and splendor to... "herd chickens"!

Thanh Vy (31 years old), with a straightforward way of speaking, followed by thousands of people on social networks, said that since she first became famous more than ten years ago, she has received many invitations to advertise products and services about skin whitening, dentistry, cosmetics...

Someone offered to send her 50 million VND to advertise a low-quality electric toothbrush.

"When will I win 50 million VND by buying a lottery ticket?", Vy said, adding that she has refused false advertising deals.

However, Vy also emphasized that for influential and famous people online, the amount of money that brands are willing to pay will be much higher. They receive many extremely attractive, tempting, and hard-to-refuse advertising offers. Because "just sitting in one place, people will bring money to their mouths".

Vy believes that the easygoing nature of consumers also contributes to the survival of reckless advertisers and dishonest traders. "Never trust people just because they look flashy. The more they show off, the richer they get, the more they deceive and cheat," she said. For these people, "money is easy to earn."

Data: DUC THIEN - Graphics: TUAN ANH

Make a fortune... from scandal

Pham Thoai makes a lot of money from online sales, accompanied by a series of scandals - Photo: FBNV

To make their faces known to many people and their names become hot on social networks, many people also recklessly rush into gossip and create scandals for themselves.

After posting videos on social media to show off their rich lives, attracting the attention of many people, many TikTokers were also caught by the police, with charges of prostitution, fraud, and involvement in transnational drug trafficking...

The more scandal, the more advertising!

Before getting involved in the controversy of calling for charity money, Pham Thoai, with more than 7 million followers on TikTok and Facebook, was also one of the top faces in the livestream sales world, leaving an impression with his loud speaking style, sometimes even cursing others.

Many people get a headache listening to him sell, but some people feel "entertained".

Notably, to be known by many people, Pham Thoai once even organized a lavish wedding in his hometown, set up a formal tent, sent invitations to friends from far away, and brought his mother on stage to join in the fun.

At the wedding, the MC also said: "Wishing groom Pham Thoai and bride Khanh Van a hundred years of happiness. Both of them poured wine to offer to their parents to show their gratitude and filial piety...".

Many people doubted Pham Thoai's authenticity because he previously showed signs of being a third gender.

Many days later, Pham Thoai explained that the video content was just an act, not real. "Happy April Fool's Day everyone. Have a good wedding day and a bumper harvest of fish. I'm sorry everyone."

Despite calls for a boycott, Pham Thoai still dares to joke about important matters, but is still more famous and makes more money.

This character only really got into a big scandal when he was accused of lacking transparency in his charity appeal. During the business process, many TikTokers also came up with a series of tricks to attract attention to the livestream. However, customers are not always satisfied.

Typically, the couple La Quoc Quyen and Nguyen Lan Anh (Quyen Leo Daily channel) once rented a yacht to hang a banner advertising loudly about the goal of achieving 150 billion VND in sales during a livestream session on TikTok, customers who came to buy would be randomly given 100 tablets.

However, many customers later responded that the couple gave away fake tablets that could not be used.

"Nest" of law violations

Emerging from social networks, many people earn a lot of money through advertising and business activities.

Among them, there are many people who have committed violations related to their speech and behavior. Notably, Bui Xuan Huan (Huan "rose") emerged as an "internet gangster", with many offensive statements about his views on life and business.

This man was once fined by authorities for slandering Ho Chi Minh City civil servants in 2020. Accordingly, on his personal Facebook page livestreaming to sell goods, Huan told viewers/customers: "Do you have money to play or are addicted? I'm telling you, 80% of Ho Chi Minh City officials, civil servants, and youth have used drugs."

Perhaps it is his arrogant way of speaking and using vulgar words online that makes Huan "rose" known to many people online, some even call him a "teacher" of business. Over the years, besides actively posting information, pictures, and videos about his personal life on social networks, Huan has also taken advantage of it to do online business.

To attract interactions, some TikTokers even show defiance. In early 2025, the Investigation Police Agency of Van Giang District Police (Hung Yen Province) consolidated the case file to handle the case of Bui Van Nam (Nam Birthday, account with more than 1 million followers) according to the law.

Encountering traffic police on the street, instead of cooperating to show his papers, Nam chose to log into his TikTok account and use his phone to livestream, calling on many people to actively share and comment.

Nam was then taken to the police station, and could not present his vehicle registration certificate, compulsory civil liability insurance, driver's license...

Nam also violated level 4 alcohol concentration (highest) and was issued an administrative violation record by the authorities, temporarily detained and sealed the vehicle.

Consumers need to protect themselves

According to experts, promotional content is provided by the business providing the product. If we want to tighten advertising content, we must first deal with businesses providing false information.

Then consider handling the KOL to see if they exaggerate or exaggerate compared to the original of the business or not. If the KOL really exaggerates to sell more products, then the criminal charge of deceiving customers should be applied.

"But that is not enough, each citizen needs to raise awareness of scientific knowledge to recognize the problem with KOL's statement to protect themselves," an expert recommended.

Poll

After the recent controversy involving some celebrities livestreaming to sell products, what do you think about celebrity livestreaming activities:

You can select 1 item. Your vote will be public.

1. Still interested and following the livestream, ready to buy if needed.

2. Trust is down, only watching livestream and not wanting to buy.

3. No more trust, stop watching livestream sales.

Other opinions

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khi-youtuber-tiktoker-dua-kiem-tien-bat-chap-dung-sai-2025041022345278.htm