Social media 'series' that was actually a product ad — $300/day, felt scammy

Casting call said "recurring role in new digital drama series." Sounded legit. $300/day, 2 days. Showed up and realized it was a social media ad for a skincare brand. The "series" was 6 TikTok-length videos that were basically commercials with a thin plot. The product was prominently featured in every scene. My character literally said the brand name 4 times. This is a commercial, not a series. When I asked about it, the producer said it was "branded entertainment" and technically different from a traditional commercial. OK, but $300/day for a commercial that will run across TikTok and Instagram is way below what you'd get for actual commercial work. They also gave me the product as a "bonus." Cool, $45 worth of moisturizer. Not technically a scam but definitely misleading. If the casting call said "social media ad" I would have asked for $800+.