CBS Pitiful PR Approach Revealed
It is funny, I just did a post about Mommy Bloggers being enthralled by PR and marketing bling, and now we see even CBS is not immune to bribery and the like. According to a source on another site, CBS evidently has hired some denizens to do their dirty social networking job for them. Nikki Finke, over at Deadline Hollywood pretty much busted YouCast Corporation ’s Amy Morales for offering a $20 Amazon gift certificate for coverage of CBS’s upcoming “The Good Wife” via email no less. I have to wonder if there is not an army of actuaries figuring out the ROI on these kinds of bribes versus old fashioned media outreach?
Of course we cannot certify the authenticity of this exchange any more than any other publication can, but it seems apparent from a posted email conversation between the principles here that in fact an offer of “thanks” involving online money (Amazon variety that is) was tendered. I offer the published version of this mail to our readers via the Deadline Hollywood publication below:
Dear Deadline Hollywood Daily Editorial Team,
I know I just emailed you recently about CBS’s Three Rivers – I don’t mean to stalk your inbox – but I didn’t want you to miss out on The Good Wife either! … My goal in writing to you today is to see if you’d be interested in sharing this information with your readers. As a thank you for considering the story I would love to send you a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate…
I look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Amy
Well, if the smoke coming from the barrel of this gun is legitimate, we are finally beginning to see the underbelly of what all Web 2.0 visionaries feared from the onset, traditional sales and marketing interposed on a super powerful communicative innovation. In short, the same old cheap tricks fed like carrots to a primarily ignorant or greedy online media segment. You see, these cheap little sausages fed to the blog beauties not only have an individual effect for a readership, but they in fact promote an online social schema for cheapening all of our efforts at news, knowledge and in the end truth. I know that is a philosophical mouth or head full, but a little thought about the realm of online information, and anyone can see how we are all damaged by such BS. Just think about this. The publication these people offered $20 to has a readership of something like 300-500 readers a month! Imagine what kind of Amazon prize might be offered to reach more people.
Whether a publisher is a Mommy, a Daddy, or Richard McManus of ReadWriteWeb, getting paid “anything” for reviewing or mentioning “anything” sells us all short. The reason I mention Richard is because much of what I believe about transparency and journalistic ideology, I got from paying attention t him. He would never cheapen his life’s work for a damned $20 Amazon certificate, or any other “under the table” bribe. Not many with a publication worth looking at would in a perfect world. YouCast’s corporate hype is revealed below, I wonder if bribery should be listed as one of their featured innovations in social outreach?
You can count on these guys, right?
Can You See It Coming?
I wonder how it is that many do not see the end of this tunnel coming? Just this article alone, revealing even the hint that things read on the Web might be somehow “bought and paid for” wedges doubt in the minds of readers. How does anyone know what is true, part true, or out and out lie any more? Well, assumptions are all we have. In the case of Deadline Hollywood, and the writer who revealed this, it could be assumed (appropriately probably) that this writer can be trusted not to sell out. There is a saying that everyone has his/her price, and it is a true one. We expect TV commercials to lie to a degree, someone paid millions to put those “opinions” up there in lights. But, the more effective, the utter grass roots approaches to real people in the social sphere, now there is where effective marketing can make headway. And, for the low-low price of $20 in many cases.
CBS Cares About You!
We would all like to feel warm and fuzzy about the brands we love, feel safe and secure in the knowledge that someone up there cares about us. Well, it won’t happen. CBS or any large corporation for that matter, could care less about actually engaging you, as a member of the digital social community, in a two way conversation. They will simply buy someone to do it for them. Paying lip service to this Web 2.0 dogma of “conversation” boils down to the traditional giants just forking over some cash to get our attention and make you think you are part of some ethereal two way consumer love fest.
I do not have the answers for all this. Like so many, I do not have the time or resources to do much about how you or I are treated on the Web. So, like so many, I just report news and offer opinions as I can. One thing I do know however, and something which CBS and a host of other companies d not, is that this tool I am typing into right now is the most powerful safeguard (or weapon) ever devised. You can take what I say or leave it. They can do likewise. But, keeping me or anyone from saying it and then using tools to make sure other people see it, cannot be infringed upon much. The sooner these companies realize the true potential of these tools, the better off we all will be. $20 for a post? I wonder how many of those were already handed out just to let you know about another stupid show?
CBS, here’s your plug for The Good Wife, you can give my $20 to this charity, thanks!
About the Author
Phil Butler is editor-in-chief of Everything PR and senior partner at Pamil Visions PR. He’s a widely cited authority on beta startups, search engines and public relations issues, and he has covered tech news since 2004. Phil wrote in the past for ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, Profy, SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, AltSearchEngines. Follow Phil on Twitter or send him an email at phil [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.
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