Fox showcases paid actors pouring milk on themselves at MLB games to promote Indy 500

It’s pretty common for fans to do wacky things at Major League Baseball fans.

Last week, MASN spent almost an entire half-inning capturing the escapades of a Baltimore Orioles fan who realized he was on television.

Saturday, if you were watching one of several MLB games on Fox, you might have gotten a good chuckle from seeing a fan randomly pouring milk on themselves in the stands. It also might have struck you as odd. How many people are hanging out at a baseball game drinking milk? Was that cow’s milk or some kind of milk alternative? And what were the odds that it would happen more than once on the same day?

Of course, there’s an obvious explanation. Fox is broadcasting the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday and it’s tradition for the winner to chug (or douse themselves) with a bottle of milk in Victory Circle. And if you look closely, you’ll notice that all the “random” MLB fans are wearing Indianapolis 500-brand shirts.

This wouldn’t be noteworthy except that when Fox shared the clip on its social media channels, it treated it as if it were authentic and not a paid actor promoting something for them. The Fox announcers also treated it as a genuine moment they just happened to be caught during the broadcasts.

It’s not the most egregious faux pas ever committed, but it’s standard practice amongst influencers and content creators to clearly state when something is paid for and not an independent action. Not so much for Fox.