And Now a Word from Our Sponsor
I know this is all over the internet, thanks to the activism of Keri, but after reading the article she posted on advertising in blogs, I am kind of creeped out and can't stop thinking about it.
It is one thing to have blatant ads all over your site--something I don't necessarily like when I am reading blogs--but at least it's pretty clear what you are up to. Everytime somebody clicks on your site, you get some change. I have friends who do this. I, myself, don't do it because I hate advertising and commercials in every day life, why would I want it to be here? It's visually exhausting, it doesn't help anybody, and it's already so pervasive, I want SOMETHING that doesn't come with a commercial to it.
If you've read the article, you've come to understand, how much DEEPER it has become than just banner ads. People are writing personal blog entries and doing product placement, as if it's just a normal part of their entry. It's sneaky and frankly, it gives me the creeps. It's made me suspect of the blogs I read, and it has made me worry about how my blog (on its minute scale compared to so many others), and how it is read. I just did a post on Disneyland--is this to be considered as an ad for Disneyland? I sure as heck hope not. Or what about my glowing post on my new Japanese Bento lunchbox?
The reality is that yes, product is a natural part of our lives. We buy product at the grocery store, we use them at home, we ingest product, and we travel within products to product destinations. If I mention a product, I do so narcissistically and haphazardly. The product is a mere prop of another daily entry about me--nothing more nothing less. I have assumed until now that the blogs I read for daily inspiration also do that. Apparently, not in all cases.
Granted, blogs are a very particular portrait of people. The personal nature of them, may lead readers to believe, with ads or not, that they know someone. This is, of course, not true. You know ONE SIDE of them--one that is crafted by the author. What they show you is their business. Yet I feel duped. I feel that the "honesty" I derive inspiration from on certain blogs isn't entirely real. And maybe that's my business. And maybe I should take my business elsewhere.
It is one thing to have blatant ads all over your site--something I don't necessarily like when I am reading blogs--but at least it's pretty clear what you are up to. Everytime somebody clicks on your site, you get some change. I have friends who do this. I, myself, don't do it because I hate advertising and commercials in every day life, why would I want it to be here? It's visually exhausting, it doesn't help anybody, and it's already so pervasive, I want SOMETHING that doesn't come with a commercial to it.
If you've read the article, you've come to understand, how much DEEPER it has become than just banner ads. People are writing personal blog entries and doing product placement, as if it's just a normal part of their entry. It's sneaky and frankly, it gives me the creeps. It's made me suspect of the blogs I read, and it has made me worry about how my blog (on its minute scale compared to so many others), and how it is read. I just did a post on Disneyland--is this to be considered as an ad for Disneyland? I sure as heck hope not. Or what about my glowing post on my new Japanese Bento lunchbox?
The reality is that yes, product is a natural part of our lives. We buy product at the grocery store, we use them at home, we ingest product, and we travel within products to product destinations. If I mention a product, I do so narcissistically and haphazardly. The product is a mere prop of another daily entry about me--nothing more nothing less. I have assumed until now that the blogs I read for daily inspiration also do that. Apparently, not in all cases.
Granted, blogs are a very particular portrait of people. The personal nature of them, may lead readers to believe, with ads or not, that they know someone. This is, of course, not true. You know ONE SIDE of them--one that is crafted by the author. What they show you is their business. Yet I feel duped. I feel that the "honesty" I derive inspiration from on certain blogs isn't entirely real. And maybe that's my business. And maybe I should take my business elsewhere.
posted by Summer Pierre at
11:09 AM
1 Comments:
This is a topic I think about A LOT. Because I have a background in copywriting and marketing, I've been known to accidentally hawk products on my blog ... like when I wrote about how I strangely love the crappy Olive Garden salads, and several people commented that now they wanted to try one. I was like "But wait! That wasn't the point!" I think Olive Garden sucks, and I hate myself for liking their crappy salad. That's what I wanted to write about, and yet somehow the post was persuasive.
But then there's the flip side: this is part of how print journalism works, too. Every known a music journalist? They have all the free music they could ever want. Ever met a magazine gadget editor? They have laptops laying all over their apartments, each one given to them for review purposes.
I myself push the lines of this. I often work on trade, for instance with Wai Ching on Offbeat Bride. I was transparent about it (she's very clearly listed on the site as a Sponsor), but then I fell in love with the dress she made for me and talked about it on Flickr, too. Was that dishonest? That's not a rhetorical question.
This, I think, get the root of the difference between advertising/marketing and public relations. If it's ad/mkting, you know. Really good PR, you have no idea you're being influenced ... it just slips right into your psyche. It's sneaky-deep, and while pay-for-post schemes are creepy, in many ways bloggers are only following the footsteps of journalists before them.
This is part of why I originally made the step to doing copywriting ... I used to edit a music magazine. Every single issue the publisher would ask me to feature someone or something related to an advertiser. Magazines are paid for my advertisements, of course. That's all they are, really ... ad delivery systems. The content supports the advertising, and the advertising supports the content. When I realized this, I had an aha moment ... why was I getting paid crap to basically be a shill disguised as a magazine editor when I could be making decent money working in marketing?
And thus, a hack was born.
I could go on, but I'll stop now.
Post a Comment
<< Home