I have nothing against your post, and I don't think for a second that you had any other motive than 'Just Shmooze'. However Marketing a product or a brand isn't necessarily for the immediate results but rather it shapes peoples minds for the future. Plugging a product (although it's unavailable) indirectly markets the brand and also builds customer interest for the item when the product does become available.
Disagree.
I posted about something I was eating, and made an unbiased comment about how I really enjoyed it. Now, just because I happen to have some connection with the brand, that doesn't suddenly mean I am "plugging" it.
When I posted a few months ago that I was enjoying a steak with Chef Mark's signature bourbon barbecue sauce, was I "plugging" Glatt ala Carte? I think you would agree that I was not. And the only difference between that and this is that I have no connection to GAC, other than being friends with the owner. So why suddenly when I have a connection is it called "plugging" or "marketing" or "advertising"? I'm not allowed to like the product "l'sheim shomayim", just for the sake of liking it?
As mentioned on here previously, I have connections with quite a few food companies. Heck, I even have connections with Unilever, one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world, of everything from pretzels to shampoo. Does that mean that since 80 percent of the products sold in my makolet are manufactured by them, anytime I appreciate any of those products and write about it, I am "marketing"?