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January 07, 2005
The government's stealth marketing
Another example of how unethical word-of-mouth marketing will always be discovered and go terribly wrong (from USA Today):
The Bush administration paid prominent black pundit Armstrong Williams $240,000 to promote the No Child Left Behind law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same... The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America's Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB.
It's not exactly easy to believe Williams when he says, "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in." Often, people will talk about things they believe in without taking $240,000.
And Ketchum was the PR firm recently identified in a New York Times piece that works really, really hard to help companies defend themselves against customer vigilantes "who have a personal interest in publicly criticizing a company."
Usually, that's because the company in question has lied, cheated or otherwise engaged in deceptive practices.
UPDATE: Williams today told the Associated Press:
"It's a fine line. Even though I'm not a journalist -- I'm a commentator -- I feel I should be held to the media ethics standard. My judgment was not the best. I wouldn't do it again, and I learned from it."
It's not a fine line at all. You're either on the payroll or you're not.
By taking the government's money (and hiding the fact), Williams has called into question the veracity of his opinions on other subjects, not to mention the viewpoints of other pundits, conservative or liberal.
In a textbook case format, this illustrates the fundamental flaw of paying for word of mouth among influencers.
UPDATE 2: Tribune Media Services terminated its contract with Williams and his column.
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Political Payola ... ouch!
"Political payola" is a MUCH better headline than "The government's stealth marketing." Wish I'd thought of that.
