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12 examples of marketers that have exploited 9/11

By on September 10, 2011 in advertising, ethics, hall of shame, socially responsible

Last year, we inducted Courrier International into the Responsible Marketing Hall of Shame for their insensitive exploitation of 9/11. This year, Euronews has listed a dozen more examples in Marketing and the exploitation of 9/11 that are every bit as disturbing.  Here are the images: The exploitation of 9/11 by marketers is disrespectful, irresponsible on every [...]

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SPAM is SPAM if you say it is

SPAM is SPAM if you say it is

By on May 26, 2011 in digital marketing, ethics, execution responsible

Are you a spammer? I don’t care what the technical definition is – if you make it hard for people to unsubscribe from your mailings, you might be viewed as one. Don’t require multiple clicks to unsubscribe. Don’t force someone to enter their email address into your system to unsubscribe. Be responsible and use an [...]

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American eagles and flags coming soon to an ad near you

By on May 2, 2011 in advertising, commercialization, ethics, message responsible, socially responsible

Osama Bin Laden was a bad man and the world’s a better place without him. And I’m just as patriotic as the next guy.  But mark my words, soon you’ll see ads with American eagles and the American flag popping up, just like after 9/11 as advertisers aimed to capitalize on American emotions. With thousands of [...]

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9-11 Courrier International ad

Hall of Shame: Courrier International exploits 9/11

By on September 7, 2010 in advertising, ethics, hall of shame, socially responsible

We’ve been pretty quiet on the blog lately, taking some of our own advice and trying to stay focused on some great client projects and our upcoming office move. But we simply couldn’t let this pass without saying something. French newspaper Courrier International‘s tagline is “learn to anticipate.” Really, this is a decent tagline that [...]

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Can Responsible Marketing help fight childhood obesity?

By on May 19, 2010 in advertising, ethics, marketing to kids, socially responsible

From the The Wall Street Journal: The White House is calling on food makers to curb marketing of unhealthy foods to children, part of a broad assault against childhood obesity. The recommendation is part of a 120-page report released Tuesday that outlines steps to fight the national epidemic. One in every three children ages 2-19 [...]

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Responsible or not? Nike resurrects Earl Woods

By on April 8, 2010 in advertising, authenticity, ethics, message responsible, responsible or not?, videos

Just in time for Tiger Woods’ return to golf at The Masters, Nike has released the following ad featuring the voice of Tiger’s deceased father, Earl: Here’s what Earl is saying: Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find [...]

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Marketing puffery never pays

By on January 14, 2010 in authenticity, deceptive marketing, ethics, message responsible, no trust, positioning, videos

Seems we’ve been up to our eyeballs in positioning and message strategy work at Outsource Marketing lately. Of course, positioning should be the cornerstone of all your marketing communications—without meaningful differentiation, you’ve got nothin’, after all. But your positioning has to be more than simply unique and matter to your prospects. It has to be [...]

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A-Rod and Kobe and Phelps, oh my!

By on February 20, 2009 in ethics, morality, responsible or not?, videos

It was a risk when Activision cast four of the world’s most recognized athletes to dance in their underwear for a video game that that wasn’t sports-related. Imagine it: The greatest Olympian of all time (at least by medal count), the best basketball and baseball player today, and the person that has almost single-handedly popularized [...]

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A-Rod deals another blow to the MLB brand

By on February 10, 2009 in branding, ethics, no trust, truth, videos

View this video on YouTube Few professional athletes have ever been bigger than George Herman “Babe” Ruth. His achievements on the baseball field were epic, garnering him the nicknames “The Sultan of Swat,” “The Colossus of Clout,” “The Titan of Terror,” “The King of Crash,” and of course, “The Great Bambino.” Arguably, the greatest player [...]

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VitaminWater or the CSPI: Who do you believe?

By on February 6, 2009 in advertising, deceptive marketing, ethics, responsible or not?, socially responsible, who do you believe?

The Coca-Cola Company is being sued by the Center for Science in the Public Interest for deceptive claims regarding it’s VitaminWater product line. Coke markets VitaminWater as a “healthful alternative to soda by labeling its several flavors with such health buzz words,” and claims they “variously reduce the risk of chronic disease, reduce the risk [...]

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On sweatshops, morality and marketing

By on January 28, 2009 in corporate responsibility, ethics, morality, socially responsible

Do you care if a pair of jeans you were about to buy was made with sweatshop labor? What if you looked really good in them—would you care then? Are you sure? In Sweatshop Labor is Wrong Unless the Jeans are Cute, Neeru Paharia and Rohit Deshpandé of Harvard Business School share the results of [...]

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Is Belkin’s apology for astroturfing enough?

By on January 20, 2009 in authenticity, corporate responsibility, deceptive marketing, ethics, message responsible, social media, socially responsible, word of mouth

First, what’s “astroturfing?” Roughly, it’s when formal political, advertising, or public relations campaigns seek to create the impression of spontaneous “grassroots” behavior, hence the reference to the artificial grass, AstroTurf.* On Friday, The Daily Background Blog revealed that a Belkin employee was doing just that: Paying 65 cents for perfect reviews on Buy.com, NewEgg.com and [...]

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Hall of Shame: Countrywide Home Loans

By on January 16, 2009 in advertising, deceptive marketing, ethics, hall of shame

Marketing is about persuasion, so occasionally marketers stretch the truth. But how bad is a company when it mocks it’s own advertising in a court of law? Pretty bad. Countrywide Home Loans is no stranger to litigation and is considered by some to be among those lenders most responsible for the mortgage crisis. Maybe it [...]

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Tobacco in an irresponsible marketing death spiral

By on December 17, 2008 in authenticity, deceptive marketing, ethics, false advertising, socially responsible, truth

This week, tobacco companies were dealt a blow when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of allowing lawsuits to proceed under state law for deceptive advertising of “light” cigarettes. Tobacco companies are now in what I call an irresponsible marketing death spiral: The proliferation of traditional and social media have created millions of professional [...]

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“Sexy” tights for tweens on Amazon.com

By on December 4, 2008 in ethics, morality, socially responsible

I have no problem with the sale of sexy lingerie. It’s, well, sexy. But it’s a bit jarring to see a product on Amazon called Girls Spider Web Sexy Tights Hosiery Leg Wear from a risque lingerie company called PrettySinful next to the picture of the little girl, above. One Amazon customer reviewer sums it [...]

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Hall of Shame: Classmates.com

By on November 17, 2008 in deceptive marketing, ethics, false advertising, hall of shame, social networking

“Your former classmates are trying to contact you! Upgrade now to see their messages!” You’ve received Classmates.com spam and endured their irritating yearbook ads. While most consider the “classmates are trying to contact you” message a marketing trick, Anthony Michaels of San Diego, CA took Classmates.com at their word and paid $15 for an upgrade [...]

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Hall of Shame: Misleading mortgage marketers

By on November 6, 2008 in deceptive marketing, ethics, hall of shame

Every homeowner gets them: Misleading letters from mortgage lenders informing you that you are eligible for a lower payment. Here’s one I received a few months ago from Eagle Nationwide Mortgage: The letter above follows the typical template: Your mortgage lender’s name is at the top, along with your “account number” Contains the word “URGENT” [...]

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Responsible today. Irresponsible tomorrow?

By on October 17, 2008 in deceptive marketing, ethics, socially responsible, truth

Responsible Marketing is relative, isn’t it? Take a look at the following cigarette ads from When Doctors, and Even Santa, Endorsed Tobacco in the New York Times: These ads weren’t objectionable then, even though they were deceptive. Today they’d be considered outrageous. The fact is, Responsible Marketing is a moving target. What’s responsible today, may [...]

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Personnel Concepts’ marketing:
Out of compliance?

By on October 8, 2008 in deceptive marketing, ethics, responsible or not?, strategically responsible

I don’t like receiving upsetting letters. Nobody does. But here’s an envelope I received in the mail yesterday: +enlarge Why would I receive a letter from The Compliance Service Department at PCI marked “Important – Open Immediately?” I didn’t know who PCI was, but I was afraid it may have something to do with our [...]

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Responsible or not? FreeCreditReport.com

By on October 6, 2008 in creativity, ethics, false advertising, responsible or not?, truth, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

FreeCreditReport.com has done a great job with their marketing—it’s hard to come up with a company that’s created more memorable ads recently. People are paying attention to their ads, sharing them on social sites and singing along. View this video on YouTube The problem is, the credit reports aren’t free at all. When you get [...]

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