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but there are companies like BzzAgent that are doing organized word-of-mouth programs? They just seem a lot worse.

I'll call it "Bzz", because I don't remember the name but Bzz is pretty close...

You're thinking of BzzAgent. Otherwise known as "the third horseman of the Apocalypse".

From their site:

Read a great report of how a BzzAgent introduced Clamato to his coworkers and spread the Bzz right away!

"Clamato", in case you haven't heard of it, is tomato juice mixed with clam juice. Seriously. If one of my coworkers came up to me in the office and started pushing something that disgusting on me, I'd have to be physically restrained from picking up the nearest stapler and dealing out some Frontier Justice.

I'll call it "Bzz", because I don't remember the name but Bzz is pretty close...

You're thinking of BzzAgent. Otherwise known as "the third horseman of the Apocalypse".

From their site:

Read a great report of how a BzzAgent introduced Clamato to his coworkers and spread the Bzz right away!

"Clamato", in case you haven't heard of it, is tomato juice mixed with clam juice. Seriously. If one of my coworkers came up to me in the office and started pushing something that disgusting on me, I'd have to be physically restrained from picking up the nearest stapler and dealing out some Frontier Justice.

However, in the long term it seems to me that BzzAgent is a step closer to the ideal than traditional advertising; a way to get the word out about new products. Providing free samples to ordinary people who are interested in their product and who may be willing to talk it up if they like it is exactly what companies should be doing. This is more helpful to society than spending lots of money to shoot slick commercials and to have famous people appear in them.

A precursory look at the BzzAgent website (particularly http://www.bzzagent.com/pages/WordOfMouth.php) shows that they aren't encouraging a "secret agent" mentality. In fact, they even use the word "open" a lot, and they let you look at their blog without even signing up as an "agent". And take a look at http://www2.bzzagent.com/pages/CodeOfConduct.jsp; they expect Agents to be open and honest, and they enourage them to talk about being Agents.

It's regrettable that (quoting the nytimes article) this is coupled with suggestions that people "call bookstores and pretend you don't know the exact title or author you're looking for".

In my opinion, BzzAgent is one step away from the ideal. They should even more actively encourage their members to mention their membership in BzzAgent whenever possible to dispel mistrust. Finally, they should actively discourage things like calling the bookstore and pretending you don't know about something.

Imagine that instead being associated with "undercover marketing", BzzAgent became a household word, a program that everybody knew about and that many people participated in, in order to get samples of products, and in order to provide a service by advertising good products. BuzzAgents' friends and acquaintances would know that they participated, and if an Agent friend brought Al Fresco sausage to your BBQ, it would be no secret where they got it from. The net effect would be, first, to encourage people to try new things through free samples, and second, to devolve the job of getting the word out about good new products from professionals to amateur volunteers.

In fact, I think this is probably what they are aiming at even today, and they just need to take a few more steps to address everyone's concerns about openness.

I have one more suggestion that is a little more radical, but that I think would help BzzAgent prove once and for all that they mean well. I understand that sometimes it may be difficult and awkward to make Agents mention their affiliation each and everytime they happen to mention the product in passing. So, the company should ask Agents to affix a small, visible, brightly colored "BzzAgent" sticker to the product when they bring it somewhere to tout it. This should remove any mistrust.

(incidentally, one of the things that is probably hurting people's perceptions of BzzAgent is to use the word "agent" to describe their members. It seems to me that this is clearly intended as a silly/campy/goofy parody. But it comes off as if they're seriously trying "infiltrate" us. It is ironic that this inconsequential choice of words, a "branding mistake" perhaps, will probably do a lot to galvanize opposition amongst people who don't like being influenced by advertisers with their carefully chosen words)

Your site is a good idea, though -- we may as well have a place to put a list of products which may be being astroturfed, either by this company or by others, as well as have an open forum to discuss these sort of things.

However, in the long term it seems to me that BzzAgent is a step closer to the ideal than traditional advertising; a way to get the word out about new products. Providing free samples to ordinary people who are interested in their product and who may be willing to talk it up if they like it is exactly what companies should be doing. This is more helpful to society than spending lots of money to shoot slick commercials and to have famous people appear in them.

A precursory look at the BzzAgent website (particularly http://www.bzzagent.com/pages/WordOfMouth.php) shows that they aren't encouraging a "secret agent" mentality. In fact, they even use the word "open" a lot, and they let you look at their blog without even signing up as an "agent". And take a look at http://www2.bzzagent.com/pages/CodeOfConduct.jsp; they expect Agents to be open and honest, and they enourage them to talk about being Agents.

It's regrettable that (quoting the nytimes article) this is coupled with suggestions that people "call bookstores and pretend you don't know the exact title or author you're looking for".

In my opinion, BzzAgent is one step away from the ideal. They should even more actively encourage their members to mention their membership in BzzAgent whenever possible to dispel mistrust. Finally, they should actively discourage things like calling the bookstore and pretending you don't know about something.

Imagine that instead being associated with "undercover marketing", BzzAgent became a household word, a program that everybody knew about and that many people participated in, in order to get samples of products, and in order to provide a service by advertising good products. BuzzAgents' friends and acquaintances would know that they participated, and if an Agent friend brought Al Fresco sausage to your BBQ, it would be no secret where they got it from. The net effect would be, first, to encourage people to try new things through free samples, and second, to devolve the job of getting the word out about good new products from professionals to amateur volunteers.

In fact, I think this is probably what they are aiming at even today, and they just need to take a few more steps to address everyone's concerns about openness.

I have one more suggestion that is a little more radical, but that I think would help BzzAgent prove once and for all that they mean well. I understand that sometimes it may be difficult and awkward to make Agents mention their affiliation each and everytime they happen to mention the product in passing. So, the company should ask Agents to affix a small, visible, brightly colored "BzzAgent" sticker to the product when they bring it somewhere to tout it. This should remove any mistrust.

(incidentally, one of the things that is probably hurting people's perceptions of BzzAgent is to use the word "agent" to describe their members. It seems to me that this is clearly intended as a silly/campy/goofy parody. But it comes off as if they're seriously trying "infiltrate" us. It is ironic that this inconsequential choice of words, a "branding mistake" perhaps, will probably do a lot to galvanize opposition amongst people who don't like being influenced by advertisers with their carefully chosen words)

Your site is a good idea, though -- we may as well have a place to put a list of products which may be being astroturfed, either by this company or by others, as well as have an open forum to discuss these sort of things.

yes, this is a recent marketing phenom/fad:

bzzagent

cbsnews