The Mitchell & Dyer mystery
NBR has solved a mystery: An campaign about a supposed new ad agency launch tonight is actually a really about launching a new TV show about an ad agency. Seems like many people fell for it, but NBR worked it out before the launch tonight.
Sounds like a few journalists will not be too happy about being fooled, especially as actual untruiths are recorded on tape.
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Tags: Media, NBR
May 28th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
A fascinating story (at least to those of us interested in the media). The PR company behind this certainly lied outright to journalists, and it’ll be interesting to see if PRINZ chooses to do anything about a clear breach of their ethics (assuming the agency is a member).
However there are plenty of other groups and individiuals who aren’t bound by some unenforceable code and who would, and sometimes do, lie to journalists.
Thing is, as the NBR story sets out the facade that was constructed was pretty thin… a few phone calls and maybe a visit to an office and it was apparent the whole thing was a fraud. The writer doesn’t say, but I’d imagine that it might have involved a total of four hours of her time, albeit spread over several days.
That only NBR was prepared to give a journo the time needed to track down the facts rather than regurgitate a press release simply reiterates the point I’ve made repeatedly in the past – MSM proprietors need to be told that unless they start investing in adequate numbers of journos who are properly resourced to do investigative work, we’ll stop reading / listening to / watching their crap (and thus also their advertisers’ crap).
May 28th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Well, more fool them and Rex makes some good points. But to be practical for a moment, playing the MSM for fools might seem like a jolly wheeze now. Perhaps not so much when Prime (or DraftFCB’s other clients) find that folks aren’t returning their calls anymore. As the proverb goes: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
May 29th, 2008 at 10:01 am
The ‘media’ expecting to go along a get free goodies bags and all they got was a few drinks, how sad
May 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Personally I think it’s genius, it’s funny how ‘constructed’ stories pass as news when MSM want them too…but when they get egg on their face from not checking into a story that’s been constructed by someone else, it’s another story!
I work in media and must admit I thought it was a bit fishy when I first heard/read about it…I reckon they’ve pulled off a stunner!
May 29th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
OMG, what does it say about me that, not only did I think these guys were real, but I admired them so much I nearly sent off my CV to them?
D