Autoblog: Ford-Sponsored Las Vegas Junket

Again, TTAC is not against junketing per se. Although invitations to manufacturer-sponsored events rarely cross our e-transom (for some unfathomable reason), we have tested cars on the carmakers' dime. All we ask is that automotive publications specifically declare any and all financial contributions towards any given editorial content, within eyesight of the relevant text. In other words, tell readers/viewers if you're drinking the corporate Kool-Aid. OK, now, you may recall that I recently wrote an editorial taking Ford to task for their new "Drive One" campaign. So it was with some interest that I read today's Autoblog post on that very subject. Scribe Jeremy Korzeniewski couldn't have been more an enthusiastic cheerleader if he'd waved pom-poms. "After spending a few days with Ford's main-marketing-man Jim Farley and his team, we can truly say that the excitement surrounding the company's new Drive One marketing strategy is palpable." Uh-oh. "They let us tag along so we could see what all the fuss is about, and the dealers we spoke to seemed pretty pumped about Drive One and felt that Farley's new team at Ford was finally listening to them and doing something with their input. Keep reading to find out what else we heard in Sin City." Or don't. But either way, somehow I don't think AOL picked-up the tab for this bit of reportage. We ask Autoblog to either categorically deny this logical assumption or add a suitable disclaimer at the bottom of their post.

UPDATE: Autoblog has added a disclaimer. We thank them for their rapid and appropriate response, and hope that full disclosure will become the website's standard policy.