Is Paid Word-Of-Mouth Advertising Deceptive? By Marty Schwimmer on October 19, 2005 Posted in Advertising This letter from Commercial Alert, an advocacy organization, to the FTC, argues that ‘buzz marketing’ (using paid lay people to spread word-of-mouth) can be deceptive. Tidbit: Procter & Gamble reportedly has 250,000 teenagers on its WOM payroll.