I came across a site today called "all i want for xmas is a psp." The PSP, or "PlayStation Portable," is Sony’s handheld video game system. Here’s the scoop on the site, according to the supposed proprietors:
i (charlie) have a psp. my friend jeremy does not. but he wants one this year for xmas.
so we started clowning with sum not-so-subtle hints to j’s parents that
a psp would be teh perfect gift. we created this site to spread the luv
to those like j who want a psp!consider us your own personal psp hype machine, here to help you wage a
holiday assault on ur parents, girl, granny, boss – whoever – so they
know what you really want.we’ll let you know how it works for us. pls return the favor.
more to come,
c&j.
Of course the site features plenty of PSP news and "viral" videos and advertisements promoting the device. It’s suspicious, yes, since the graphics on the site look like they were produced by top-notch designers and yet the writing smacks of faux-"teen speak" with "teh" and "pls" interspersed throughout the copy.
The smoking gun, however, came when it was discovered the site is registered to Zipatoni, a marketing company. (Hat tip: Kotaku) I’m not surprised that one of their services includes "Buzz Marketing," which they describe like so:
At Zipatoni, buzz marketing means getting into customers’ conversations. We know we can’t control the dialogue. But we tap into the right insight to deliver an idea that will get opinion leaders and even entire communities talking about it on their own. Just like that, we’ve converted the consumer into a passionate and credible message-bearer. Now that’s good news.
I’m not against good viral marketing – I’ve sung the praises of Burger
King’s efforts, for example, which were tremendously successful and
remained honest. Unfortunately, setting up a fake evangelist Web site and pretending to be consumers smells like Astroturf to me, and that’s BAD news.
0 Responses to “Is Sony guilty of astroturfing with PSP “fan” site?”