An Unfair Advantage?
With the blogosphere becoming increasingly influential and a lot of the big blogs a major media source, its easy to see why publicists are starting to reach out to more and more bloggers (especially since bloggers are more likely to respond to pitches). But ladies and gents of the PR world, you know better than to pay off bloggers for coverage of you or your client's brand. Let me grab my megahorn and say this loud and clear: IT'S UNETHICAL. Apparently Ann Taylor and their PR crew didn't get the message. Last week, Ann Taylor's LOFT line held a preview exclusively for bloggers and basically bribed them with gift cards in exchange for coverage of their line and the event. Their invite read: Come take a sneak peak at LOFT's summer 2010 collection before anyone else! Bloggers who attend will receive a special gift, and those who post coverage from the event will be entered in a mystery gift card drawing where you can win up to $500 at LOFT! But wait, it doesn't ...