BBC: Wikipedia is not a viral marketing tool

Yesterday, Xeni blogged a reader comment about a Wikipedia entry on a BBC game that had been edited from within the BBC's firewall, asking whether the Beeb had been using Wikipedia as part of a "viral marketing" campaign on the piece.

Rob Cooper, the Senior Producer on the game, writes in with the following:

I'm Rob, the Senior Producer on the Jamie Kane game. A couple of people have emailed the BBC asking for an official response to the Jamie Kane/Wikipedia thing. If you guys still have space for it, would you mind adding in the following, as there seems to be some confusion:

"Just to confirm, the BBC would never use Wikipedia as a marketing tool. The first posting was simply a case of a fan of the game getting into the spirit of alternative reality a little too much. The follow up posting was made by a fan of the game who happens to work for the BBC and was made without the knowledge of anyone in the Jamie Kane Team or BBC Marketing."

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Cory Doctorow

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