This episode sparked widespread discussion in the blogosphere. Some key resources are collected here, and the following post from Constantin Basturea pulls together most of the debate:
Edelman, Wal-Mart, And WOMMA's Code of Ethics Constantin Basturea - A lengthy and comprehensive posts will several updates pulling together the debate about Edelman and its fake Wal-Mart blogs
Wal-Mart vs. the Blogosphere Pallavi Gogoi, BusinessWeek? - Fallout from the retailer's "astroturf" blog scandal may end up hitting PR firm Edelman the hardest
Strike three for Edelman - Todd Defren - points out some major problems and conflicts in Edelman's work for Wal-Mart (and the WalMart? Across America blog)
Jim and Laura - Peter Himler - Experienced agency type Peter Himler's take on the controversy.
Washing away in a tide of "how could they?" - John Wagner - "If there's a lesson we can learn from Wal-Mart's attempts to burnish its image, it should be this: You can't run a corporate communications effort like you would a political campaign."
Wal-Mart Blog Fiasco - Paul Holmes - "When PR firms go to work for clients who have demonstrated little or no interest in true public relations—in building mutually-beneficial relationships with their publics—then those firms need to be extra careful to make sure that everything they do meets the highest ethical standards. Because as Edelman just learned, it's not just the client's reputation on the line."
Stop harshing Edelman's Groove - Shel Holtz - "In any case, it’s time for everyone to take a deep breath, remember how the real world functions, and bring some reason to this discussion. Screaming for heads to roll may make some feel better, but it doesn’t help spread the gospel of ethical social communication. That takes time, dedication, and perserverence." Also see great discussion in the comments.
Edelman and the flogging of America - Digital Street Journal - "This is not about public relations. This is about public affairs. There’s a difference. Public affairs is decidedly more political and comes with a different set of standards and values."
Don't Be Evil - Hire it Done - Slashdot - Looks at Google hiring the DCI Group "I'm sure DCI will be able to give Google whatever they're paying them for. The question is, what are they paying them for? And does 'Don't be evil' imply 'Don't pay professionals to be evil for you?' Or could there possibly be a non-evil reason to hire these clowns?"
Discredited by association with astroturfing - David Phillips - "The result of hiring a company associated with Astroturfing and other practices that are unpopular with social media commentators is probably not helpful to Google's reputation."
OH That's not good - Joshua Micah Marshall - Reports on Google hiring the DCI Group and outlines their history
Links to resource discussing a YouTube video attacking Al Gore that the Wall Street Journal uncovered as possibly the work of PR firm DCI Group
Where did that video spoofing Gore's film come from? - Pittsburgh Post Gazette, from the Wall Street Journal, by Antonio Regalado and Dionne Searcey, August 3, 2006 - The article that uncovered the astroturfing effort behind the video
The clue train has no caboose - Richard Stiennon, ZD net - "This is not over. Wait until the next presidential election. Then you will see some nefarious acts with equally lame attempts to cover up."
CGM Masked - Peter Himler - "Can "CGM" morph into corporate generated media without tainting the viral video hosting company's brand essence? Or more importantly, shouldn't video posted on YouTube? (and elsewhere) require full disclosure of who financed the production?"
Wall St Journal: Exxon Mobil PR Firm Behind "Inconvenient Truth" YouTube Spoof - B.L. Ochman - "Of course now ad PR agencies, those clueless wonders who are still producing flashing banner ads and PR-speak press releases, are saying "Wow! We can use this social media to run annoying messages and make people buy stuff." The good news: like character blogs that were blown off the Internet by disgusted viewers and bloggers, social media exploitation soon will also go the way of the dinosaurs, along with the agencies that create them."
Fake CGM - Misha Cornes - Cornes considers fake CGM and asks "Does this stealth marketing work, or are we heading for a backlash?"
Propaganda 101 - Matthew Sheffield - Conservative blogger argues against condemnation of the Gore YouTube? video
Gore must be doing something right - alphamonkey - "We’ve reached the age where both Wikipedia and YouTube? are now battlegrounds in the political arena. Pathetic does not begin to describe the situation."
Global Warming Astroturf courtesy of Exxon - Raven, buyblue.org - "This is a fine example of what lobbying money buys various companies. If we surf on over to OpenSecrets?.org and check out their lobbying data we'll see that Exxon paid DCI Group $140,000 in 2005 - well that is what is recorded on the books anyway. The numbers for 2006 are not yet available."
Exxon, Penguins and Faux Consumer Generated Media - Virginia, Brains on Fire - "I hope that instances like today will convince the marketing and PR world that living up to some basic ethical guidelines and encouraging clients to do the same is both the right thing to do and good business."
Shady Business - Shakespeare's Sister - "Is there anything criminal about this? No. Unethical? Arguably. Pathetic? Certainly. Can’t win an argument on the facts? Just mock your opponents! The tactic is dismal enough when someone has the balls to do it outright... but when they’re not even willing to leave their fingerprints on it, that’s just all kinds of disgraceful."
