A scenario where one person is getting secret sales kickbacks by and selling pipe dreams from a large corporation to unsuspecting "friends" doesn't sound out of

A scenario where one person is getting secret sales kickbacks by and selling pipe dreams from a large corporation to unsuspecting "friends" doesn't sound out of the ordinary under capitalism as we know it. That's not an argument that any other economic system would be better, however. If marketing less was conducive to business success, you'd think there would be less marketing occuring every year overall, but that's clearly not the case. What does seem conducive to success is marketing less blatantly, where the definition of "blatant marketing" is constantly evolving as consumers wise up to the latest manipulation techniques.