Astroturfing face-lift dirtbags get fined, stay in business
The company has aggressively guarded its online reputation. In 2007, it sued an Arizona man who maintained a consumer-oriented Web site that included criticisms of Lifestyle Lift, saying the site's use of the procedure's name infringed on the company's trademark and amounted to false advertising. A federal judge in Michigan dismissed the case last year, saying the site was commentary protected by the First Amendment.NY AG: Facelift firm placed bogus online reviews (via /.)But Lifestyle Lift also came up with another new way to fight back: Having staffers post glowing reviews, comments and testimonials that appeared to come from clients.
"I need you to devote the day to doing more postings on the Web as a satisfied client," employees were told in one internal e-mail, according to the attorney general's office. Another internal message directed a worker to "put your wig and skirt on and tell them about the great experience you had."
The disguised workers did that and more, sometimes pushing to get message boards to remove critical posts and even setting up pro-Lifestyle Lift Web sites that masqueraded as independent views, Cuomo's office said. The postings dated back to early 2007, the attorney general's office said.
the latest
latest episodes
The evolutionary nature of free markets often means that free markets develop beyond the narrow boundaries that make them beneficial to the vast majority of people.
The classic model is that the company offering superior products or services will outcompete the company offering inferior products or services. However, this assumes that consumers of the products or services can obtain accurate information.
Companies have long since learned that they can subvert the old business models by controlling -- or at least muddying -- the flow of information.
This made me think immediately of China's 50 Cent Party, which basically does the same but for the PRC instead of some company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party
Astroturfers ?
I get the idea, but.. I must have been living in a cave when the use of that word became 'common'.
good question, I wonder when first recognized use was recorded?
We have billboards for boob jobs and face lifts here. With prices.
"Dirtbag". I gotcher dirtbag story:
A bunch of us were camping beside a rushing stream where tubing is the thing. Our camp was beside the fast moving section thru huge boulders.
My brother Funn had been heckling the sh*t out of poor Karen the whole time. So when Funn took his tube for a long walk upstream for another run, I called Karen aside. "Wanna git him? Wanna git him good?" Oh, she sure did!
We took a rake and a trash bag and filled the bag with leaves, sticks, and dirt. And waited. As Funn came drifting by, Karen stood on a boulder above the stream and dumped the whole bag on top of him.
He couldn't stop or wash off for a good forty yards because of the current and boulders. Can you imagine how funky that feels when you're already wet? We gave him a framed enlargement of the photo, and he's been kinder to Karen ever since. d8^)
@3: they've been using that term on this particular blog for quite a while now.. do a Google search and see how often the term comes up. You may well have been in a very special cave all this time.
Loved it! No relevance to the post at all (outside of the one word in the title) but absolutely loved it.
Itsu- I waited for hours. There wasn't much going on here, and I guess the reminder of 'dirtbag' had me dying to tell the story. I gotta make Funn dig that picture out so's I can hang it. Thanks!
From the site:
The Lifestyle Lift Code of Internet Conduct and Assurance
Lifestyle Lift® pledges that all Internet communications accompanied by the trademarked Lifestyle Lift® logo are fair and accurately represent the latest in medical information about facial firming procedures. The comments and photographs are from actual clients and fairly represent the results and opinions of thousands of our clients. Lifestyle Lift® is proud to take a leadership role in establishing new standards of Internet conduct and communications. We promise that any Internet communication accompanied by our logo can be relied upon as true and accurate; and all communications originating from our practice will be clearly identified with the Lifestyle Lift® logo. If you have any questions or concerns about the authenticity of any internet content or postings, please contact Lifestyle Lift®.
Any chance Reed-Elsevier will be hit with similar fines for their recent shenanigans?
http://consumerist.com/5313215/academic-publisher-pays-professors-for-shill-amazon-reviews