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Industry Group Sponsors College Course To Create Fake Blog

Posted by kdawson on from the paid-me-to-do-it dept.

Scott Jaschik writes "At Hunter College, professors are debating the ethics of a course in which an industry group paid for a class to develop a fake student who would write a fake blog to discourage other students from buying knockoff products. The controversy involves both commercial interference with academic freedom and the ethics of 'guerilla marketing.'"

4 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Well, they now admit it by HairyNevus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The blog finally admitted that it was fake: http://encounterheidi.blogspot.com/2007/05/here-is-catch-i-am-totally-not-real.html . I love how the students who created this blog chose the ditsy valley girl stereotype to convey their message, and stuck with the persona 'till the bitter end: "Here is the catch- I am totally not real!"...the bolding was me.

    --
    You were critically hit for no damage. The bruise will look nice, and maybe the scars will make good party talk.
  2. Re:Fake Blog, Fake Student- by moderatorrater · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Authenticity and originality are key to the youth demographic and they know it. The problem is that ads have failed at those for a long time. Some ads can still do it through humor and strange premises (like the old spice ads I love so much). Unfortunately, people are smart, and copying another ad campaign's success backfires more often than not.

    It's a problem that's crept up on them for the last few years. Frankly, I'm shocked that corporations are struggling to look authentic and original.

  3. Read the full article by Protonk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The "fake blog" portion of the story is compelling, but it isn't the whole story. all in all, the actions of the university and the coalition (the IACC) were pretty repugnant. The school engineered the course to teach the industry viewpoint and ensured (via industry observers) that the professor did not deviate from the talking points. when the story initially broke, the school decided that it was an internal matter and didn't merit any outside scrutiny.

    The professor in question voiced real ethical problems with the course but was basically told to shut up and teach--because he didn't have tenure that was pretty much his only option. The job market for PhD's without tenure isn't exactly robust.

    Never mind that this was basically taxpayer subsidized indoctrination.

  4. Re:Fake Blog, Fake Student- by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Which is pretty funny considering what a bunch of sheep the youth demographic is.
    As someone who's old enough to have seen several "youth demographics" come and go, I can tell you that this generation is less sheep-like than the previous 3 or 4.
    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.