Slashdot Mirror
Dr. Pepper Tries New Astroturf Method
glh writes "Blogging continues to make its way into corporate America. Dr. Pepper is now blogging to build a community around their new dairy based Raging Cow product by using "key influence bloggers". The key influence bloggers are currently made up of six people mostly in their late teens/early twenties who get promo merchandise as their only form of compensation. In return, they get to "advertise however they want" through their blog. Seems like this experiment could turn into the next "big thing" in advertising-- assuming people are willing to sell out their blog space. Bloggers beware!"
This is just more of the same ol' story: companies sticking their advertisements everywhere: cramming every possible orifice full of their logo. Now instead of being obnoxiously located above, below, and to the sides of all the content your reading on the net: it will now be located inside the content.
George Carlin was right.. bend over a little more..
Since I've never read a blog and and never plan to, I don't care how much advertising they put in it. Plus, maybe they would spend less on other areas and I would have to deal with less annoying flash ads.
Cogito ergo sum in Slashdot.
Slashdot has legitimized this concept by linking to Raging Cow since the site is high on Google's pagerank index. I hope Michael enjoys his new hat.
What does it tell you about this 'next "big thing"' that I spent 5 minutes at this site trying to figure out what it was trying to sell and had to google 'raging cow' to figure out somewhere else that it is flavored milk. Ugh.
Chicks wrestling in mud to sell beer. Now *that's* the 'next "big thing"'!
Q...
With product names of "Chocolate Insanity" and "Pina Colada Chaos" it seems they'll bomb. Some exec at Dr Pepper probably decided to try and see what kind of impact this "new medium" might do for advertising what should be a quickly dead product. If it makes their marketing marginally better, you'll see it down the road for Dr Pepper's regular products. (Dr Pepper Exec)"Let's not just tarnish the good old Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper just yet with something that might be thought of as odd from an advertising standpoint."(/Dr Pepper Exec)
I used to have a good sig...
no one takes bloggers as an "unbiased news source" to begin with - and the people are free to advertise in any way they want, right? that means if they really do think it's crap, they're either a) going to say so or b) stop accepting it and stop writing about it. their only form of compensation is merchandise, so I'm more inclined to trust them than someone who says "oh, yeah, I LOVE Dr. Pepper! that's why they paid me $30,000 to appear in this commercial!". This blogger is saying "I LOVE Dr. Pepper! That's why I'm happily accepting crateloads of stuff to tell you about them!". IMHO, (I know, no such thing) this is actually a bit more sincere.
You see, without that little doohicky, the universe stops.
http://propheteer.org
At least it is nice to see some advertisers not going the route of picking traditional media and then using legislation to force that media upon people despite changing technology (Can anyone here remember a certain quote about using PVR's to skip ads being "stealing"?) Personally it's nice to see different models of advertising being explored... maybe with some luck we'll see a less invasive model that is more effective for advertisers and less annoying for everyday consumers. (Mind you I realize the likelyhood of that is about the same as Microsoft going the non profit corporation route..) Still, at least product endorsement/placement in blogging is preferable to having them install an LCD on the inside of my eyeballs and forcing ads into my subconscious. After all my subconscious is scary enough as it currently stands.
Beware of what? Guess what kids - your culture is being appropriated by the marketeers! (pause for gasps of astonishment and chagrin).
Is there even a line between culture and commerce anymore? In any event, the raging cow site drips with manufactured "kewl" - if you're influenced by this kind of pap you deserve to be sold carbonated milk, or whatever the hell it is.
It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries
I dunno, you can advertise a drink in any way you want to, but good advertising does not a good beverage make. Maybe it works for some people, but an advertisement makes me buy a drink once. From there on, the only way I'd buy it again is if it lived up to the hype.
Friends tell me how much I need to try Red Bull. I finally buy a can. Tastes like shit. No amount of persuasion from friends or TV will ever convince me to try it again.
Code Red. Why Pepsi is messing with Moutain Dew is beyond me. I try a bottle. Tastes like shit. I'll never buy Code Red again.
Vanilla Coke. I hear it advertised on the radio. I'm passing a convenience store, buy a bottle. Tastes like Coke and vanilla, but seperate. No blending of flavors. I'll never buy that again.
So, now there's some new drink from Dr. Pepper. I'll probably hear about it on the radio, or maybe see a blog. I'll buy a bottle some day. If I like it, I buy more. If I don't, I won't buy it ever again.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
isn't that people are marketing this stuff in their blog. It is Dr. Pepper providing gear for their efforts.
Most people walk around happy to sport logos everywhere: their t-shirts, shoes, cars, computers (or computer components). They actually pay for the privilege. Why anyone would be surprised or upset about the tables being turned, I don't understand.
Product placement in our entertainment is everywhere and will become even more prevelent as traditional marketing becomes less effective. I view blogs as primarily entertainment and was frankly expecting this.
BTW, anyone see the Ford Focus car chase in Alias? I had to turn it off when they zoomed in for a lingering shot on the Focus' logo. Blech.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
You're totally off base here. The problem with payola is that the radio stations have a government granted monopoly allowing them license to utilize a finite public good. In a given area, there's a relatively small limit on the number of stations that can broadcast at a given time. Because of this, a pay-for-airplay system unfairly excludes a number of songs from the market and restricts the ability of the airwaves to be used to best benefit the citizenry to which they ultimately belong.
Furthermore, radio stations are still allowed to accept compensation for traditional advertisements. It's understood that even though the stations are utilizing a public good, such activity still requires funding. As such, it's permitted that the run paid advertisements during their programming. However, it's just not permitted for them to subvert the "serving the public" obligation (i.e. playing music) with that programming being driven by money.
Finally, blogs aren't a closed market. Any idiot can throw up a webserver and jump into the fray. There are two privileges that the "popular" blogger enjoys: 1) More bandwidth (as they've presumably invested in better hosting as part of their growth) and 2) More eyeballs. Neither one of these is out of reach a new entry into the market. While some sites (such as Slashdot) enjoy part of their success from being the first on the field, there's no intrinsic factors in the medium that prevent newcomers from one day achieving comparable success.
So overall, it's just plain old product placement. Purists may be upset with it (and may question the artistic integrity of the blogger over it), but there's no wrongdoing here barring future potential misconduct on the part of a blogger (such as lying about the product or utilizing a blog server that prohibits commercial content).
RB
And life just gets more and more like TV: Now, I have to consider whether my family/friends/coworkers are "gettin' paid" before I take them up on that recommendation to see "Master Of Disguise II".
Maybe it's a good thing to question everyone's motives in everything they say to you, regardless them being an advertiser, a teacher, a government, a religeous leader, a web log. Asking "why are they telling me this."
Why am I telling you this?
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