Intentional deception for viral marketing purposes :
Intentional deception for viral marketing purposes PR firm admits it’s behind Wal-Mart Blogs
discusses the intentionally misleading efforts of three employees of the Edelman public relations firm
The three employees posed as independent supporters of Wal-Mart writing blogs such as Working Families for Wal-Mart and Paid Critics
Corporate blogging: Wal-Mart’s fumbles
discussing the increasing trend of big corporate institutions engaging with their customers through blogging, which has been known to be social and interpersonal
Good blogging is open, honest, and based on two way communication between the corporation and its customers and audiences and gives character and personality to a corporate institution that would otherwise seem cold and impersonal, instead of misleading, filtering and packaging one-way information
Intentional deception for viral marketing purposes :
Intentional deception for viral marketing purposes “Puppets” Emerge as Internet’s Effective and Deceptive Salesmen
discussing the purposeful misleading and deceptive practices of businesses to lure customers to their products, services, etc
Using meat puppets, sock puppets, and trolls disguises the originator’s true identity in order to blend in and falsely initiate grass roots buzz about a company and it’s products and services, and to get people to willingly give out identification information that they would not give out had they known that the person was actually working undercover for a business or corporation.
Sony Confesses to Creating ‘Flog’ Shutters Comments
discusses the fake blog created by Zipatoni, a company that is affiliated with Sony PSP. The blog was created by fake characters as a tool of viral marketing for the Sony PSP.
Corporations who try to hide their marketing and advertising efforts, and disguise them to trick consumers essentially do not give consumers credit of knowing when they are being manipulated and taken advantage of.
Ethics in Consumer Privacy :
Ethics in Consumer Privacy AOL apologizes for release of user search data
discusses the moral and ethics behind releasing search data containing info that seems to be harmless
although there was no identification released, there are still ways that the information could lead to the reveal of identity based on the sites that were searched under specific accounts
search data that is collected by search engines such as AOL. Yahoo, Google, etc, are said to provide information for advertisers, insurance companies, etc. I guess the question is is this type of data collection ethically responsible?
Neglecting Child Protection on the Internet :
Neglecting Child Protection on the Internet MySpace Glitch Gives Hackers Teen Data
discusses the privacy issues with social sites such as MySpace that entertains users under the age of 18
MySpace was responsible for the profiles of users 16 and under being unprotected and accessible by user over the age of 18
FTC fines Xanga for violating kids’ privacy
Xanga, which is like MySpace, allowed children under the age of 13 to get on the site without parental consent, thus violating the Privacy Act
Xanga was fined $1 million, the largest under the protection law
Snack companies fined $185,000 for violating kids’ online privacy
discusses the violation of the Child Protection Act by food companies such as Hershey and Mrs. Fields
collection of personal information of children under the age of 13 without parental consent, even if the information is not provided to a third party, is illegal, as well as unethical
Viral Marketing Through Consumer Ads :
Viral Marketing Through Consumer Ads Malibu Banana Boat Contest Backfires, Contestants Cry Foul
discusses the claims of contestants of a Malibu Banana contest, that the contest was merely a marketing scheme to get consumers talking about their product
Although the winner and the executives of Malibu say that the contest was legit and that the winner was in no way affiliated with Malibu, some contestants still felt that the winning clip resembled an advertisement by Malibu, and that the way that company chose a single winner with no finalists was a little fishy
Chevy Tries a Write-Your-Own-Ad Approach, and the Potshots Fly
discusses the possible results of putting the message of a company into the hands of consumers
Chevy tried to get consumers to make their own ad for the Tahoe
Chevy Tahoe was accused of contributing to the problem of pollution and the deterioration of the planet in many of the ads
placing the message and image of a company into the hands of the public will not always yield positive effects for that company