Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The FTC announced on Thursday that it has caught ADT paying bloggers for endorsements (on blogs as well as national TV/radio) and not disclosing it.

Folks, the rules and the law on social media ethics are clear, as I’ve been sharing for years.More here.

In addition to ending the program, ADT will now be required to get a signed confirmation that a blogger has reviewed and understands their disclosure requirements — from every blogger they work with, for the next 20 years.

How awesome of a punishment is that?

Yesterday I received a strident email from Restoration Hardware's "Senior Public Relations Leader" who had her chonies in a twist about my recent sofa satire post. She demanded to know the source of my information and told me to take down the post immediately. It seems she hadn't read the entire post or she would have noticed the disclaimer at the bottom linking the sofa to its true manufacturer. When I pointed out it was clearly all in jest, her response had me laughing out loud...

[Raina Cox blows the whistle on several pompous PR peeps. Not good blogger relations. - JD]

The public relations industry is at best comical, at worst evil, and, for the most part, a simpering crab pot of truth-twisting and careerist ego stroking.

Gawker blows the whistle on lame PR pitches. Essential question when pitching: who cares?

[Chin up with these silly PR pitches - JD]