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It's surprising to hear about the PR firms promotion of the video since PR people are supposed to be the experts at what's cool.
Though personal opinions will always vary, and thought the FCC hasn't got its stronghold on the WWW, there should at least be consensus among marketers and the general public that there's a line between "controversial" and "reprehensible."
I do agree with Megan a set of standards is highly needed. Without them more people will start to think such videos are a good idea.
To all - this one video was one in a four part series that are located at jawbonefilms.com. I have not watched the other 3, but there is a clear warning for viewer discretion. What are these people thinking???
1. Digital Axle did not produce nor do we have anything to do with the video in question. We have not been paid by anyone to flog it to blogs. We did not "pitch" this video. We have absolutely zero financial interest in it's circulation per se. Most importand, we find the material as offensive as everyone else here.
2. If you read Ana's email carefully, you will note that she sent her email purely to start a conversation and open a dialog about something she herelf felt was highly controversial and inappropriate.
3. While I find the video in question as offensive as anyone posting here, and while I wish that Ana had not sent out this particular email (not to run away from my personal responsibility, Ana writes under my authority, although I rarely review her material in advance), she was doing nothing more than attempting to begin a dialog among online bloggers about the use of offesive material in viral campaigns. To have called Ana's email "a pitch" implies an association between the makers of this video and our company that does not exist and never has existed. To associate our good name with support for offensive and racist thought is not only wholly inacurate, it is flat out wrong. Criticize us for trying to start a conversation, if you must, but please don't inaccurately drag our name through the mud of racism to live in a Google netherworld forever.
4. Frankly, Lee, I wish that you would edit your original post to more acurately reflect what happened here and the acurate intent of Ana's email to you. Without such a correction, you know as well as I do that your post will live on forever, condemning our hard earned good name to be associated with support of racist material. In fact, we are all good bleeding heart San Francisco liberals here. I'd sure appreciate a correction. Thanks for your consideration.
Marketers get paid to work, why else would she have emailed you (and who else?) about a video she had no connection with?
Unless it was an attempt by a competitor to magnify what they saw as a neg reputation story.
Anyone who is a marketer knows that by talking or spreading a story you are doing something, you are adding value, she had to know that when she emailed you.
On the other hand I did show some of my friends the video, but it wasn't a pitch as I already knew them and did geniunely want to get their take on it.
I think I'm overly sensitive to this ad in particular, because honestly, the "snuff" part, and the bag over the head reminds me of a scary movie scene that I wasn't supposed to be watching as a child (you know; peaking around the corner when you're supposed to be in bed... you've been there.) Did it scar me for life... a little.
That being said, who could possibly have a positive reaction for the product being pitched after sitting through that? What demographic is this aimed at? I'm really at a loss for this one, and personally think it crossed a line. Sorry if I don't "get" this one, but it is truly unsettling.
While she didn't say she represented Jawbone, the email construction was designed to definitely leave you thinking that way.
The fact that she sent the same email out to more than one person suggests that this was more than just a "hey, Lee/Andy, this is disgusting don't you think?" type email.
Bruce, asking Lee to change the tone of his email, is not your biggest reputation concern. Your first priority should be why in the world you're letting your employees send stuff out like this using their corporate email and corporate signature.
Speaking to Bruno's comment, I take issue that Ana was giving a negative spin to the video...I actually think she was speaking out of both sides of her mouth here...words like "controversial, provoking, unexpected, and, ultimately, shocking" aren't negative at all...she's attempting to lay some bait to get you to watch the video and talk about it.
I'm very hard to offend but there's far too much racial tension in today's world to put out this type of video...especially in a "business" context.
I'm also inclined to agree with Matt that you don't make viral videos - you make funny/clever/shocking videos and hope that they get a million views... That's more than semantics saying you "just launched a viral video" is just not knowing what a viral video is...
It's like whatever company that made this heard about and then was able to sell a buzz word without understanding what it means... WEB 2.0! BLOG-o-SPHERE! VIRAL VIDEOS!
I just really wish I could meet the person who was able to sell this kind of thing to Jawbone - he/she must be the best BSer alive
I am 26 year old Chinese male
Kudos @Bruce for responding to this post, but I'm completely baffled by the disconnect between what your employee, Ana, was trying to do and your statement that there is absolutely no connection between your firm and Jawbone.
Especially in light of the fact that Andy Beal and others received the same email.
Lee, very good call for not linking directly to the video. This is a colossal mistake for Jawbone to make.
@Song I'm no Nietzche expert, but I'm quite sure he is rolling over in his grave, for things are even darker than he predicted if young people find this acceptable.
I on the other hand, expect this video to be uniformly rejected by humans, regardless of age.
Ana's email is copied word for word with the exception of the video URL being removed. That email clearly identifies Ana as an employee of your agency and the email is asking for a blog post.
There is no doubt the email is a solicitation to view and write about the Jawbone video. The request came from a person that identifies themselves in the signature as being from your agency.
The video is described as offensive, racist and unsettling, not your agency or Ana.
If she was acting on her own behalf and in no part involved with an intentional promotional effort in exchange for compensation, then the email above is the strangest "conversation" starter I've ever read.
After reading the comments of our blogs' readers above, it seems they agree.
To those who keep saying this was a pitch, I guess we could debate the definition forever. I simply want to make clear again, as some responders seem not to have understood my initial statement, that my agency has zero, zippo, nada relationship to Jawbone. We no economic or political interest in promoting them or the contents of their video.
Yes, Ana did send her email to several bloggers. I can attest that her only objective was to start a conversation and that through this conversation, that it might generate some traffic to our own blog. That's it. Nothing nefarious or sneaky intended.
On any given day, Ana is an ace writer who writes fun, entertaining coverage of this industry. Check it out some time at http://blog.digitalaxle.com (OK that was a gratuitous plug) We pay Ana to write interesting stuff for our blog and to use the world of tagging and trackbacks to help drive traffic to our blog. I absolutely encourage Ana to be outrageous (within bounds) because there is so much boring crap written about this industry. No doubt, this particular email may have represented a lapse in judgment.
But bottom line, as wildly strange as it may seem:
a) This was intended as a conversation starter (I guess that worked although not as intended) Commentators, if you can't buy that, your problem, not ours.
b) We absolutely condemn the point of view in the Jawbone video.
c) Nobody at our agency is getting paid by Jawbone or anyone else for Ana's email. Nobody here had ever heard of Jawbone until we saw this video. You can call it a pitch, if you must. You can call it George. But if you are going to be intellectually honest, you can't call this some sort of devious attempt to promote a tasteless, racist advertiser. Because it simply wasn't.
Again Lee, I appreciate the clarification.
Sounds like it was a mistake to me. They happen in companies all the time. Ana was trying to stir up controversy and get some traffic and buzz out of it, and it backfired.
The appropriate thing would have been to write a post on the Digital Axle blog and tap into the conversation that way. Why ask other bloggers to make the post?
Clearly, her approach was deeply flawed, but at least accept Bruce's clarification.
Maybe I'm being naive but Bruce has made his company's position clear in his comments.
I viewed this film as something highly provoking.
Finally someone has the courage to kill the very thing that we fight every day.
"Hi Lee
This is controversial. What do you think?
Have I opened a dialogue with you now?
Thanks
Ana"
Its still a pitch Bruce, whatever sugar you wrap it in! Using the video in this way is effectively the same as flogging the product with the video.
Lets just call it a lapse in judgement as to the content of an appropriate pitch.
You made this story about you. Something any self-respecting press-man would never do.
I'd say you have taken something very trivial and tried to generate your own publicity...if i were being critical, i'd also point out that you've over reacted to the content in the first place. As an ABC, i honestly take no offense. in fact i like when products spur conversation about race etc.
if you thought it was so bad, why ever post it?
and also, look around the web...it's entertainment not life and death.
sorry to be harsh but you're way off the mark here.
- steph
This is a blog where I share opinions, observations and insights both personal and professional - but mostly professional.
This post is about a mistake and appearance of lacking transparency on the part of the agency employee who sent an unsolicited email asking for a blog post.
Context is as, or more, important than content in this case. The email above follows a typical pitch as closely as I've ever seen and I've seen many. We get 3-5 pitches from PR people and bloggers each day. I know what a pitch looks like.
Claiming it's not a pitch and just an innocent, "Hey, this is a controversial video, check it out" simply runs contrary to common sense.
"it's entertainment not life and death" yes that's true and no one is saying it is anything different. My point of the post is to draw attention to how NOT to pitch and that sending a template email to well known bloggers without being clear of intentions is a big mistake.
As to the subject matter of the video, I am as is everyone else who reads this blog including yourself, entitled to their opinion.
1. Ana should've been transparent about her intentions from the start.
2. Ana should've just written about the (incredibly grotesque) video herself, then invited other bloggers to the Digital Axle blog to discuss it.
Rachelle
Not that it will help matters in the short term, but I've decided to remove some of the identifying information as I have no interest in this post ranking on the agency's name.
Most amazing thing, you recieve 3-5 e-mails like this every day. That amazes me the most, I am sure here in The Netherlands you would be surprised even recieving once a year a "hint" like this.
I totally agree.
Here is my review of all four commercials.
Uncalled for, Outrageous and should never have been created. This is not a conversation and it surpasses controversy.
You would think after viewing them that there was decancy among the advertising community. Just because these are viral videos and not tv ready commercials does not mean that there are not limits to what can be created. There needs to be limits set on what kind of content is created. I am all for free speech but this is pushing the limit.
We also have become a culture that should be done with getting ahead by putting others down and that is exactly what two of these videos do as they attack the Asian community very harshly as well as the gay community. By attacking stereotypes I do not think that we are breaking them down but providing an outlet for those that have them to express them.
Are we becoming so desensitzed that eventually even this will be "derigeur"? Or was this the unconscious opening salvo to break us down wherein the next time it happens, the reactions may not be as volatile?
A good lesson for those responding to dissenting blog posts.
I gotta say, I don't think you should have even mentioned it. Marketing ideas such as the above are created not be clever, not be funny, but to be controversial and therefore have people talk about it. And it has worked perfectly well as now I'm sure after your post a lot of people will have done a search for the video and done exactly what the video creators wanted.