22 votes

The North Face and Leo Burnett Tailor Made manipulated Wikipedia for marketing purposes

Posted by Deimos
Tags: wikipedia, advertising, north face, marketing, encyclopedias, source.wikimediafoundation
https://wikimediafoundation.org/2019/05/29/lets-talk-about-the-north-face-defacing-wikipedia/

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Title
Let's talk about The North Face defacing Wikipedia
Authors
Wikimedia Foundation, Joe Sutherland, Juliet Barbara, Ed Erhart
Published
May 29 2019
Word count
416 words

7 comments

  2. alyaza
    Link
    here is Fast Company's take on this fiasco:

    here is Fast Company's take on this fiasco:

    But this? Let’s call this what it really is: This seemingly cheeky move is actually at the vanguard of a pernicious emerging movement that we’ll call asshole advertising. It may appear to be benign stunt marketing, but its effect is to gleefully chip away at trust on the internet in a way that confirms our darkest fears about the devious amorality of marketers. (We have requested comment from both The North Face and Leo Burnett Tailor Made and will update this story if they respond.)

    Just look at the first few seconds of that cringe-inducing case study video, a Google search of, “How can a brand be the first on Google without paying anything for it?” The goal was manipulation all along. Not just of Wikipedia, but of you and me.

    Look, playing with platforms and our behavior on them can be fun and entertaining... But there’s a difference between a wink-wink subversive ad and blatant trickery. People like to be surprised, but they don’t want to feel manipulated. One is fun, the other is insulting. Beyond that, what this North Face scam does is encourage our already fading trust in what we see on the internet–an erosion with deep roots in advertising, whether that’s political ads on Facebook or ad scammers and bots corrupting privacy and stealing our personal data

    9 votes
  3. [4]
    markh
    Link
    I’m sure someone thought this would be received as cheeky or funny, but did no one stop to think, “Hey, will this upset anyone?”

    I’m sure someone thought this would be received as cheeky or funny, but did no one stop to think, “Hey, will this upset anyone?”

    5 votes
    1. [3]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      Call me cynical, but I think they likely knew exactly what they were doing and how it would be perceived if they were caught, but just hoped nobody would notice. And even if it was noticed, they...

      I’m sure someone thought this would be received as cheeky or funny

      Call me cynical, but I think they likely knew exactly what they were doing and how it would be perceived if they were caught, but just hoped nobody would notice. And even if it was noticed, they were/are probably betting that the vast majority of people either wouldn't hear about it, or if they do, not really care enough to boycott them as a result... which is sadly a pretty safe bet, IMO.

      10 votes
      1. Greg
        Link Parent
        Call me even more cynical, but I think they expected a bit of backlash and filed it under "all publicity is good publicity".

        Call me even more cynical, but I think they expected a bit of backlash and filed it under "all publicity is good publicity".

        7 votes
      2. Deimos
        Link Parent
        The AdAge article about it said: So it sounds like they had a pretty good idea that it'd be unwanted and likely to be removed.

        The AdAge article about it said:

        According to the agency, the biggest obstacle of the campaign was updating the photos without attracting attention of Wikipedia moderators to sustain the brand’s presence for as long as possible, as site editors could change them at any time.

        So it sounds like they had a pretty good idea that it'd be unwanted and likely to be removed.

        3 votes
  4. DanBC
    Link
    I wonder if anyone has complained to any regulators about it? I might put some in for the UK's ASA.

    I wonder if anyone has complained to any regulators about it? I might put some in for the UK's ASA.

    4 votes