Those looking to catch a break in the self-expression business would have it easier if they were attached to a corporate sponsor ahead of time. Why wait to be discovered as a conduit for advertising if a sell-out is inevitable?

Still, we remain attached to the idea that credibility has to be earned — that an authentic voice requires a trial en route to a payoff, even if no one would voluntarily submit to that hassle.

YouTube has provided a glimpse into universe in which far-out ideas can reap commercial rewards if they get enough clicks: Epic Meal Time might be the most financially successful Canadian television show, ever. So, time will tell if YouTube's strategy for pre-capitalized celebrities will come at the expense of outsiders.

Brand names would obviously rather attach themselves to a proven commodity, after all. Mindshare, the media buying agency for the Ford Motor Company of Canada, didn't need to look any further for a social media-friendly voice than one Amber MacArthur.

The newest Ford Focus was presented in a series of "special information feature" items on The Globe and Mail website in a format similar to MacArthur's regular technology takes for the same outlet. Presumably, since these are big gadgets with four wheels, no conflict was risked by endorsing a car.

"Since a few of us have worked in the journalism field," MacArthur explained to Marketing magazine, "we are confident that these storytelling skills will be absolutely essential as brands try to reach out with more authenticity online."

Indeed, why pretend to be a journalist in the first place, particularly when it pays less each day? A claim to being occasionally objective must still have meaning. People with storytelling talents to spare have never had it both ways at once.

Presenting oneself as a brand eager to project oneself on any other brand doesn't seem like it will work in the long run, either.

A column by Mark Healey for the same Globe and Mail this week declared that "Days are numbered for social influencers." The perception of faith in those who could leverage their so-called klout to promote products is fading fast.

Maybe a career being an internet shill seems easier than the process of auditioning to be in a TV commercial. But there's something to be said for old-fashioned artifice in advertising — claims of authenticity can be reserved for the actual show.