Posted: May 1, 2008 | 19:37 ET
File Under: Brand Management | Blogs | Online | Word of Mouth

As reported in Ad Age, starting May 26, companies in the U.K. that faux-blog or use other means to promote their products or services online posing as "real people" can face "fines or even prison sentences."

Specifically, "[t]he rules make it an offense to blog, use brand ambassadors or seed viral ads while 'falsely representing oneself as a consumer.' They also apply to bloggers who fail to disclose they have accepted money to write about a product."

Is it just me, or does this seem somewhat draconian? Surely consumers are savvy enough to see through phony online marketing, and the article notes a couple of high-profile cases in which they did just that. Both Sony and Whole Foods damaged their brands when company reprensentatives tried to pass themselves off as unaffiliated brand advocates online.

Surely, the whole power of word-of-mouth advertising lies in its authenticity, and authenticity is by definition hard to fake. Here's hoping Canadian marketers will be able to continue self-regulating efforts in this area as those in the U.S. currently do.

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