In yet another clandestine viral effort, it appears North Carolina agency McKinney has cooked up a viral marketing campaign promoting Pherotones, ring tones that, apparently, cause sexual attraction. While the site is obviously a joke, a little snooping around reveals it’s a marketing ploy. From a fake Wikipedia listing that’s been labeled suspect to fake interviews with Boing Boing to suspicious Whois info to all sort of IP address foolery, clearly, McKinney is up to no good.
We’re sure all the McKinney folks are huddled around their computers today laughing at all of us writing about their cute little effort, waiting patiently for the right moment to reveal the client behind this ploy. While you’re all reading this you sneaky little McKinney truth-benders, remember, people don’t like liars. The law doesn’t like doctors who aren’t doctors claiming they are doctors and, ever so coincidentally, BuzzAgent, the former master of deception, just released a study that says people hate stealth marketing, are offended when lied to and, get this, a brand fares far better when all is honestly presented upfront than when it’s not. Do your homework guys. The days of trickster marketing are over.
OK, OK. So it is a little funny after it sinks in. Still blatantly dishonest.
UPDATE: I knew I had seen that doctor image somewhere before. Smartly, McKinney has placed a BlogAds campaign increasing the likelihood bloggers will go easy on the campaign. They forgot to buy Adrants though:-)
