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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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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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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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Did Tyson’s ‘antibiotic-free’ chicken claims mislead consumers?

By on April 28, 2008 in corporate responsibility, environmentally responsible, false advertising

By Dan Murphy, Guest Blogger Back in June 2007, Tyson Foods, the nation’s No. 1 chicken processor, launched a new “Raised Without Antibiotics” natural chicken line. Along with a self-congratulatory ad campaign, the Springdale, Ark.-based firm touted its new product as the solution to the contentious issue of using low-level antibiotics as a growth enhancer [...]

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Swirly goodness? Pinkberry not all good

By on April 15, 2008 in branding, corporate responsibility, false advertising, message responsible, simplicity

I like Pinkberry‘s marketing. The chain of frozen confection stores based in New York and California speak in an engaging, human voice. Their branding is clean and simple, and they know that less is more. But Pinkberry’s founder claimed less when there was more — more additives and more calories, to be precise. And that, [...]

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I got duped by Airborne

By on April 3, 2008 in corporate responsibility, deceptive marketing, false advertising, word of mouth

Seems everyone I know has been down for the count this year with a cold, the flu or some other crud that just won’t go away. It also seems everyone I know swears by Airborne. We have a tube in our cabinet and have purchased the stuff since shortly after the product appeared. Boy, do [...]

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