Organic opinion or paid promotion? Nine creators spark debate with similar Canva v/s ChatGPT posts

New Delhi: Navin Watumull, Marketing Manager at Adobe, recently posted an image on LinkedIn with the caption, “Nothing brings creators together like having the exact same original thought.” The image shows posts from nine LinkedIn creators, all echoing the same message: switch to Canva instead of ChatGPT to create images and creatives.

Anthony Muhye, Co-Founder at NatH2Investing, commented, “100% an ad campaign. Hardly anyone tags companies when they write a post (because of potential reach penalties), and the fact that they all tagged Canva is a red flag.” 

This raises a larger question: is this LinkedIn influencer marketing gone wrong, or is it a coincidence?

According to Muhye, the posts look like a seeded campaign from Canva. Some other LinkedIn users seem to share the same thought, while others talk about the content-pushing algorithm and the generation of reach.

Only a few minor changes can be observed across the posts. The main message, as stated by Stephanie Losada, a Communications & Digital Marketing Professional, reads: “Please go back to Canva… My eyes hurt every time I see flyers made with ChatGPT. They just look cheap and lazy.”

The post has 1,246 likes, 41 comments and 96 reposts, indicating strong engagement. 

Nelson Santos, a social work student, commented that AI image generation is mainly for those who lack the design skillset. His comment reads: “Those with limited access to resources and knowledge can generate flyers with one prompt… those with knowledge and resources can use tools like Canva to create flyers that get more engagement.”

Similarly, Attequa Kanwal commented, “It’s not AI vs Canva, it’s skill vs no skill…Not an AI problem. A ‘training wheels came off’ problem.”

The intent of the posts appears to convey that using generative AI platforms does not suit professionals. 

BestMediaInfo could not independently verify whether this is a seeded campaign by Canva.

Seeded campaigns are not a new phenomenon. While a norm on Instagram, the last couple of years have also seen the trend to creep up on LinkedIn. For the unacquainted, seeded campaigns include a mix of macro, micro, and nano creators post about a product or in this case a “thought” as if it's their own. These posts have no #branded or #ad making them misleading for the end audience. These posts also largely violate ASCI guidelines, which requires an influencer to mark a post branded if any kind of commercial or barter exchange has happened. 

What are your views on this Canva conversation?