Clarke Gayford is under fire for appearing in ads for Amazon.

Gayford, who is engaged to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, has appeared in ads for Audible, an audio book company owned by US online retail giant Amazon.

His appearance in the ads has sparked criticism from NZ Herald business reporter Damien Venuto, who wrote an opinion piece arguing the partners of politicians shouldn't be taking money from a company like this. 

"The question here isn't legality but rather the optics of the Prime Minister's partner accepting payment from a technology giant notoriously adept at sidestepping regulation wherever it treads," Venuto wrote.

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that there is nothing illegal in what Gayford has done, and it's more a question of ethics. 

Venuto says Gayford is not in these ads in his position as a celebrity fishermen.

"They are definitely capitalising on the fact he is a stay-at-home dad who just happens to be [engaged] to one of the most popular Prime Ministers in the world."

If it had been a Kiwi-owned company, that would have been better, Venuto says.

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