Monday, June 28, 2010

The Revenge of "Flogs"/ Four year Anniversary


AT&T Wireless PR (ATT_Wireless_PR) on Twitter


What's a Corporate PR Department's worst nightmare? A Twitter account that "fakes" your communications to the outside world. And, gets more attention than the "real" releases.

Ask AT&T's PR people. They are contending with a "fake" Twitter account that is making a laughing stock out of AT&T's PR Department and PR agency (probably Burson or H&K). Just today, NYT tech editor Damon Darlin lists the fake PR Twitter acct. as one of the "things he's following" right now, on a daily basis. Amazing endorsement from my favorite tech editor on the planet.

Edelman PR, the nation's largest Independent PR firm, started this mess a few years back with their infamous "flog" , fake blog for the Walmart account, a early desperate attempt by the PR industry to get its hands around Social Media. Ironically, four years later (almost to the day), we have the new order of "fake" communications, this time from the "other side" of the PR equation.