Coach-Funded Anti-Counterfeit Campaign Blog Lacks Transparency
A blog-based anti-counterfeit campaign created by a PR class at Hunter College in New York used a fake blog and a fictional student to spread its message. The blog was seeded via "missing" posters, which led students to a blog supposedly created by a fellow student who had lost her Coach bag. According to the fictitious story line, the bag had been a gift from her boyfriend -- now stationed in Iraq. The campaign, which is sponsored by a grant from Coach, is catching a lot of heat for its lack of disclosure and transparency -- offenses which fly in the face of ethical marketing.
To brush up on your word of mouth marketing ethics, visit:
http://www.womma.org/ethics/