Comments on: Special Report, Breaking News or Scam?

By: jlsimons

jlsimons — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:36:43 +0000

Nice find, James. It also points out one of the problems with Affiliates. This is being run by a Google affiliate, but it makes Google look bad. Affiliates can bring in good business, but if you don’t police them carefully, they can get you into trouble.

By: James

James — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:28:35 +0000

Jeff,

as soon as i saw this pop up i thought your post…

http://the-newyork-tribune.com/finance/google-now-hiring.html

what is the world coming to?

~james

By: jlsimons

jlsimons — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:48:48 +0000

Thanks, FR. I have a friend who’s on the DMA council that looks at misleading ads, and he recently told me that the number of complaints and violations are skyrocketing with the lousy economy. They’re trying to “mind the store” but I think they’re getting overwhelmed, and beyond that, their actual ability to penalize is limited.

By: Faithful Reader

Faithful Reader — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:45:16 +0000

Great catch, Jeff. I’ve seen this ad several times and truly resent it’s use of the “special report/breaking news” format. Viewers who miss the attribution could be seriously misled, as you’ve pointed out. Another case of “nobody minding the store”?

F.R.

By: jlsimons

jlsimons — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:28:35 +0000

Great point, David. Product placement in shows like American Idol is fine, because it’s blatant, obvious and expected. Product placement on The Colbert Report is satirical. But surreptitious, insidious product placement is a trend that, as it becomes ubiquitous, will eventually destroy itself as an effective marketing tool. I won’t go so far as to judge the effect of it on our culture and lifestyle, however, since I’m a South Park fan who listens to Eminem and is therefore clearly too far gone already.

By: dwb

dwb — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:21:16 +0000

jeff
well said. I have not seen these spots but what you are describing is to me the tip of the iceberg. My rant is about product placement, the ubiquitous and growing embeds of messages into media under the guise of editorial. In short order, we will not be able to discern the difference between an ad and edit, between program content and a commercial message. Followed to its logical conclusion this trend leads to the breakdown of any credible media source. Not only will advertising suffer, but this will eventually cause the deterioration of our culture and lifestyle.