Flotsam & Jetsam

Marketing Company Compares Recent YouTube Hoax To ‘War Of The Worlds’

By Jess McGuire on January 21, 2009 at 4:24 PM

Nobody’s been harmed by this? What about the beautiful bond of trust that existed between Advertisers and Ordinary Australians which has now been ripped to shreds?

Naked Communications, the marketing company that devised the elaborate viral hoax, today rejected suggestions it was unethical for marketers to invade social media sites and deceive the public for the sake of promoting a brand.

“I think a brand crosses the line when it’s harmful, and nobody’s been harmed in this,” Adam Ferrier, a partner with the company, said.

Let Naked Communications show you the art of the brilliant retort as they respond to claims their recent attempt to start a YouTube phenomenon was ultra lame and terribly misleading.

Ferrier said marketers had always used deception and ambiguity to try to get their message across but the internet allowed the campaigns to spread much faster and to a greater number of people.

“At the beginning of the 20th century there was a novel [by H. G. Wells] called War Of The Worlds and, when War Of The Worlds became a radio show, people actually thought the world was under attack and they didn’t actually reveal that it was just a radio show,” he said.

“You’re after people to engage with your brand, to talk about it, and most importantly we need to get a message across and we’ve done that successfully today.”

I love Naked Communications so hard right now. Comparing that half-arsed attempt at YouTube trickery to War Of The Worlds is like the advertising equivalent of the ‘Tusk’ film clip.