OK. We’ll say this one more time. Are all you marketers listening? Good. There’s a big difference between a teaser campaign and one that maliciously hides it’s purpose for long periods of time. And, on top of that, denies its true mission when it’s found out. What the hell are we talking about? Take, for example, the teaser billboard. It’s usually some irreverent play on words and witty imagery that’s then reveled to be part of a larger campaign a couple weeks later. Now take fake blogs. You’ve heard of them. Edelman knows all about them. They are the things marketers seem to think are the holy grail of this new social media thing. Let’s get down with our customers. Let’s “join the conversation.” Trouble is, a fake blog – one that pretends (badly) to be all hip hop on our ass – is like an idiot that shows up at a black tie event wearing American Eagle cargo shorts and a t-shirt. The natural reaction to that is, “Who the fuck is that idiot?”
So now we have social media idiot Sony with help from idiot agency Zipatoni throwing a fake blog at us called All I Want For Christmas is a PSP. On the blog, some guy “Charlie” is apparently helping his friend Jeremy get a PSP for Christmas. As AdFreak points out, the blog commenters are not amused and “Charlie’s” defense of the blog is even less amusing. In reaction to commenter’s complaints, “Charlie” writes, “yo where all u hatas com from… juz cuz you aint feelin the flow of PSP dun mean its sum mad faek website or summ… youall be trippin.” Oh for fuck’s sake. Is anyone at Sony awake? Do you know how stupid this makes you look? And once you’ve been found out, the least you can do is own up to it rather than spew fake hip hop speak.
