I feel kind of bad for laughing at this story, but it is a pretty hilarious example of what happens when creative “viral” marketing goes wrong. A woman in Los Angeles is suing Toyota for a campaign executed by Saatchi & Saatchi, in which people were nominated to be pranked by their friends.

Amber Duick claims she had difficulty eating, sleeping and going to work during March and April of last year after she received e-mails for five days from a fictitious man called Sebastian Bowler, from England, who said he was on the run from the law, knew her and where she lived, and was coming to her home to hide from the police.

I’m not really sure what this campaign even has to do with the Toyota Matrix, which it was supposedly promoting, but it scared the poor girl so much, “she even made her longtime boyfriend sleep with a club and mace next to the bed for protection.” (It kind of makes me wonder how she would have reacted if she had received one of the Frenzied Waters packages promoting Shark Week, complete with her own obituary.) What do you think, is Amber a dingbat who can’t take a joke and wants to make some extra cash, or did the marketing folk go too far?

—Alyssa

With the help of boutique interactive agency, Campfire, Gawker Media convinced members of the trade press that it acquired a blog by and for vampires named “Blood Copy”.

The blog was not actually real, but meant to be more of a slick advertorial for the second season of HBO’s True Blood (which is, if you haven’t figured out yet, about vampires).

Among those fooled into posting about the fake news was popular NYC tech scene blog, Silicon Alley Insider, which released the statement below:

“We also think that HBO, Gawker, and the marketing agency crossed a line … We’re all for experimental online advertising, viral marketing, etc. … In our opinion, however, this campaign is designed to trick people.”

The verdict is out on this one.  Is the stunt groundbreaking creative work, or unethical and defiant?

-Maria

Although I’m not an American Idol fan, I can appreciate the effort made by digital agency 360i to predict the winner using Google.

If you take a step back down memory lane, you’ll see that Google has been able to predict the AI finale winner for the last four years in a row!

The ill-fated winner or future Broadway star this year seems to be Adam Lambert. Come on down!

-Maria

T-shirt maker Threadless has partnered with Twitter to release two new shirts a week priced at $18 each.  The witty catchprases featured on each shirt will be voted upon by Twitter users, making the selection process a true democracy.

The Twitter Tees site will allow users to log on using their Twitter identification and carry a running tally of the most popular tweets of the week.

Threadless will contact those whose tweets are nominated to get permission. It is offering those chosen $360 in cash and a $140 Threadless gift certificate. The first to nominate the chosen tweet gets $100 and a $40 gift certificate.

-Maria

According to a social media study by Michael Stelzner, sponsored by the upcoming Social Media Success Summit 2009, 88% of marketers are now using social media in some form and 72% have begun within the last few months.

Key findings from the data conclude that:

• Small-business owners are more likely to use LinkedIn than employees working for a corporation.
• Men are significantly more likely to use YouTube or other video marketing than women (52.4% of all men compared with 31.7% of women).
• For those just getting under way with social media marketing, LinkedIn is ranked as their number-two choice, pushing blogging down one notch.
• Among those who have been using social media for a few months, Facebook is in second place. This group also has more Twitter use.
• Twitter is used by 94% of marketers who have been using social media for years, followed closely by blogs. This group also endorses online video significantly moreso than the other groups

-Maria

DiGiorno of “It’s not delivery…” fame is launching its new crispy flatbread pizza by way of traditional advertising and…Twitter!  Let’s be honest, this is hardly the first brand on Twitter;  however, the unique component to this is that DiGiorno is reaching out to influencers on Twitter and asking them to host “tweetups,” where the new DiGiorno product will be delivered for all to enjoy.

At first, I thought this was a really fun way to get people talking about the pizza, but then I started to think about the brand message and realized how off-base it was. I’m perturbed that a brand that prides itself on being a value-driven alternative to pizza delivery does not realize that their plan actually includes, uh, well, delivering pizzas.

-Maria

Here’s a scary thought for PR people: the Federal Trade Commission is expected to adopt a new regulation that would hold companies liable for untrue statements written by bloggers who receive samples of their products. The Financial Times explains:

If a blogger received a free sample of skin lotion and then incorrectly claimed the product cured eczema, the FTC could sue the company for making false or unsubstantiated statements. The blogger could be sued for making false representations.

I’m not really sure how this rule is sensical or fair, since I don’t believe companies can be sued if a journalist writes something incorrect about their product. I know the line blurs in certain situations, but for the most part, I think bloggers should be treated like journalists. However, it appears the FTC sees bloggers as “advertisers” for products and direct mouthpieces of the companies that send them samples.

“The guides needed to be updated to address not only the changes in technology, but also the consequences of new marketing practices,” said Richard Cleland, assistant director for the FTC’s division of advertising practices. “Word-of-mouth marketing is not exempt from the laws of truthful advertising.”

As a publicist who has sent samples to many bloggers, I can assure you that couldn’t be further from the truth. It looks like the FTC needs a lesson in Blogs 101.

—Alyssa

Have you ever considered hiring a someone to manage social media for your brand?  An article from this morning’s Brandweek states that the social media marketer title will become a growing occupation as more companies hire full-timers to interact with consumers on their behalf via Facebook and Twitter. Some companies like Dell and PepsiCo have been early adopters of hiring social media gurus while others, like Coca-Cola, have decidedly started whole digital teams.

-Josh

Photo credit: LA Times

Vespa just kicked off a MySpace contest for the new Paul Rudd comedy I Love You, Man. Users who become friends of the movie’s MySpace page and comment on what they would do for their BFF are entered in the “I Love You, Man: How Far Would You Go for Your Bro? Comment Contest”  for a chance to be awarded the scooter used in the movie.  In my opinion, this is a really smart integration, as MySpace’s core audience is the exact viewer target for the movie.

-Maria (on behalf of Josh)

According to an article from eMarketer about  “The ROI on Social Media Marketing” report from the Aberdeen Group, many marketers are finally incorporating social media into their plans.  Findings from the study reveal that 63% of the companies surveyed planned to increase their social media marketing budgets this year.

Despite the increase of spending on social media, however, over 50% of those surveyed said they were having some difficulty measuring the success of a social media campaign.

-Maria

Everybody’s favorite late-night convenience store, 7-Eleven, has created a new microsite where users can upload a photo and change their complexion while virtually drinking a Slurpee. The “BrainFreeze Laboratory,” as the site is called, uses Oddcast’s PhotoFace — a technology that transforms a single photo into 3D avatar models.

Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room, this microsite is definitely a modern take on the old Gusher’s commercials, and we all know it.

-Maria