Getting thousands, maybe millions of Internet users to view, like, share, and talk about your product isn’t easy. Any number of companies have tried to anonymously post “viral” content in the hope that it will spread quickly (and without having to pay for additional ads). And following a rash of funny/interesting Pringles photos popping up on Reddit, some users claim it’s a blatant marketing gimmick.

Posters on the Hail Corporate sub-Reddit routinely call out companies for attempting to manipulate the site and its mammoth, eager-to-share user base into spreading ads and marketing messages in the form of photos. They look for certain signs — posts by first-time users, conspicuously displayed labels — as indicators that the adorable picture of a cat in a sneaker may just be an attempt to get people to share the photo of that particular brand of sneaker.

Last week, the folks at Pringles seemed to be getting a lot of attention from Hail Corporate, where users raised questions about:

–A post suggesting you hide your valuables in a Pringles can.

–That Pringles cans make convenient spaghetti holders.

–A standing ring constructed solely out of Pringles chips.

–The obligatory cat-in-Pringles tube photo, which was actually posted by someone with the username “paidbypringles,” apparently poking fun at all the Pringle-related accusations.

Given that it’s much cheaper than an actual ad to post a photo on a free website and hope it spreads like wildfire, it is well within the realm of believability that a brand would pepper the Internet with these kinds of posts. Of course, as we saw with that Olive Garden incident last month, sometimes what appears to be corporate chicanery is actually a bona fide photo.

For what it’s worth, we asked the folks at Kellogg, the parent company of Pringles, if they had anything to do with these Reddit posts.

“We can confirm that this content is user-generated,” a rep for the company tells Consumerist. “Kellogg Company and its brands always include a company identification on all online posts.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to enjoy a thirst-quenching Brawndo while I smoke a Red Apple cigarette.

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