The phrase "cheap ploy" means a strategy or action that is seen as dishonest, deceitful, or done in a manipulative way to achieve an outcome without much effort or cost. Full definition
However, this purposeful emptiness does mean that all of these nasty traits end up feeling like cheap ploys to make everyone a red herring. (oracleoffilm.com)
I don't think its as cheap ploy as the rest of the films, only because Hans Zimmer has a credit in all three Transformers films. (filmjunk.com)
Nothing is revealed, except for Lelio's attachment to such cheap ploys to build «suspense.» (4columns.org)