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‘Mermaids’ makes big ratings splash: But was it ethical?

By on October 31, 2012 in deceptive marketing, ethics, socially responsible

It’s not the first time something like this has happened. ‘The War of the Worlds’ adaptation, which aired on the CBS radio network, caused quite a commotion in 1938. The New York Times reported that “a wave of hysteria seized thousands of radio listeners between 8:15 and 9:30 o’clock last night when a broadcast of […]

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Return of the salesperson from hell

By on May 3, 2012 in deceptive marketing, false advertising

  I’m the proud owner of a new Chevy Volt, and I’m thinking of ordering a license plate that says Shocked. You see, I thought I’d buy a Nissan Leaf. After multiple visits to the Leaf website, reading reviews and watching videos of the owner experience, their marketing connected with me. I decided the quirky […]

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Is Budget’s PrivacyGuard offer responsible?

By on February 17, 2009 in deceptive marketing, responsible or not?

Why would anyone want a free credit report from FreeCreditReport.com when Budget has partnered with PrivacyGuard to pay you $10 to sign up for ID theft and credit monitoring? Well, as we discussed here before, the credit report from FreeCreditReport.com isn’t free and as you might guess, the PrivacyGuard offer has plenty of strings attached, […]

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I’m lovin’ it? McDonald’s buys love; fesses up

By on January 8, 2009 in authenticity, deceptive marketing, launch, responsible or not?, videos, word of mouth

With some fanfare, on December 23rd McDonald’s launched a new concept store in Japan called Quarter Pounder, a restaurant selling—you guessed it—only Quarter Pounders. Here’s an amateur video of the opening taken by a customer that was there: 15,000 people attended the store’s record-setting opening, but not all of them were there for the artery-clogging […]

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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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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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Let’s fight vanity scams together

By on August 21, 2008 in no trust, social media, social networking, word of mouth

I’ve been intrigued by the legs Awards for sale: Not a rewarding experience has had since I posted it on July 22nd, just under a month ago. The Ballard Agency received an award from the U.S. Local Business Association that was clearly a deceptive marketing tactic similar to the phony domain name and Yellow Pages […]

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Deception is not Responsible Marketing

By on June 11, 2008 in deceptive marketing, hall of shame, message responsible

Liberty Names of America regularly sends us expiration notices for our domain name renewals. Problem is, they aren’t our domain registrar. Their notices are formatted like invoices in a ploy to get us to transfer our domains to them. Click on the image below to take a closer look: +Click to enlarge Of course, when […]

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Tanning is good 4 U?

By on April 7, 2008 in deceptive marketing, polls, socially responsible, videos, who do you believe?

Did you know there’s a “deceptive campaign to keep you out of the sun?” The Indoor Tanning Association recently placed an ad in the New York Times. With the headline “Tanning Causes Melanoma HYPE” it has caused some controversy and pushed some traffic to SunlightScam.com, the organization’s campaign website. Their key points: Society needs more […]

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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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