Comments on: Edelman, Wal-Mart, and WOMMA’s Code of Ethics

By: Ghost Writing Ethics 2.0: PR Firm Caught with Pants Down, Public Outraged, Politics as Usual? | Literal Mayhem

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 22:19:01 +0000

[…] Superficially people seem to have issues with “ghost writing,” but their real issue is most often honesty in public debate – particularly in a realm as anonymous as the Internet. The biggest fish-fry over such an issue was Edelman PR’s use of fake blogs to promote the ethical integrity of its client WalMart. The stench from that one still hangs in the air… and will likely be as much a textbook example of bad PR2.0 as J&J’s handling of the Tylenol crisis is a textbook example of the best in crisis response. (History and good list of links here.) […]

By: Attentio Blog » Blog Archive » Flogs to be banned

Attentio Blog » Blog Archive » Flogs to be banned — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:23:37 +0000

[…] I read that new legislation will come into force in Europe making it illegal to create fake blogs (flogs) or post blog or forum entries purporting to be from someone else. It is designed to remove the process of astroturfing or “fake grassroots”… This is a good move and will hopefully remove the fake hotel review and blogs pretending to be an individual when it is actually a company behind the initiative. I know last year Walmart got involved in this practice (not illegally by the way) but the blog police (so to speak) found this and outed the practice. This raises the question would self governance have found out the practice anyway? It’s true that any major brand engaging in this is asking for serious trouble, at a minimum to brand credibility. Maybe in the long run this legislation will stop smaller companies with lower brand value as I believe it was never in a large brand’s long term interest to do this. […]

By: Advertisers now want to use social networks for what?! « Marketing Nirvana by Mario Sundar

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:37:00 +0000

[…] Advertisers/PR have used Social Media inappropriately before (think Edelman-Walmart-WOMMA), and with current mindset as outlined above, one thing leads to another and before we realize it we could be staring into the face of another astro-network-turfing scandal! So, if you’re a marketer who’s considering social network as a means of connecting better with your target audience, here are four simple steps for you to engage with your users without being unethical. Let’s call it the Social Networking LAMP: […]

By: PR meets the WWW » Edelman/Wal-Mart blog campaign revisited by Journal of Mass Media Ethics

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:53:52 +0000

[…] Edelman, Wal-Mart, and WOMMA’s Code of Ethics, October 13, 2006 […]

By: Provident Partners | Marketing Edge blog and podcast

Provident Partners | Marketing Edge blog and podcast — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:41:17 +0000

[…] This podcast highlights how social media are going through a phase where marketers are going to be challenged to use tactics that do not harm the objective nature of individuals communicating. We’ve seen several instances of flogs (fake blogs, or commercial blogs that are posted as if they were from truly objective, unattached people/employees) being publicly criticized for trying to come off as an unsponsored forum, Edelman and Wal-Mart being perhaps the most infamous. (Blogger Constantin Basturea has a wonderful chronology.) There will be further concern about whether companies should blog and how they should do it. […]

By: 360 Digital Influence » Blog Archive » Digital Influence, Ethics and NewPR

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 15:09:54 +0000

[…] All of us have been involved in a fresh discussion about ethics and social media as a result of the Wal-Mart “flog” episode(s). While I refuse to jump on the collective pile-on, I do want to take a moment to share a fundamental pov on our own approach to social media. […]