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.
11 Comments on “Autoblog: Ford-Sponsored Las Vegas Junket...”
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Sorry, it’s hard to believe someone got paid for coming up with “drive one”. Why not “steer one” or “sit in one”. It sure moves me to go over the blue oval dealership and see what they have. Well..they do have a Mustang Bullit, so maybe it’s worth the trip.
Toyota’s tagline is so much better: Today, Tomorrow, Toyota!
How about calling up John Neff and/or Jeremy Korzeniewski at Autoblog about this and posting it as a podcast?
The disclaimer is there now:
“Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.”
Whenever I see an article like this about how great one company is I assume they picked up the tab for the author or just signed a big ad deal with the magazine. It doesn’t just happen for cars, its everything from toasters to yachts. There are two main goals of any magazine, sell ads and fill the space between the ads.
Autoblog usually does put in a disclaimer when airfare, lodging, or other accomodations are provided for by a manufacturer
Toyota have come up with some brilliant taglines.
“It’s time to move forward” is a good one along with “Drive with Confidence”. But my all time favourite has to be the tagline at the end of what I believe to be is the GREATEST advert Toyota ever made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlchMEQ9nB4
Ford’s “Drive one” is a little lame but forgivable; a better one would have something like “Let Ford drive you” (Copyright KatiePuckrik 2008!). I think Honda’s is pretty poor “the power of dreams”…
Hmmm. I’m sorry, KatiePuckrik, but Nissan, to me, always had better ads than Toyota.
Drive It, Skyline.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcTah9vxbh0
Enjoy the ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V42Tbm8w2Ak
And this one never saw the light of day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRat9ILd77I&NR=1
John R,
Keep what I said in context. I think Toyota’s adverts are great….FOR Toyota’s image. I’m sure other car makers had just as good or even better adverts, but Toyota’s adverts are focused what image the brand is trying to portray.
I still think that Toyota advert was the best one they ever did…..
Getting perks from the manufacturer while reviewing their products is common…however you need to state that upfront – and not when someone calls you on it.
I’m still a regular autoblog reader, however, their podcasts have become unstructured, and their journalistic integrity fuzzy.
The podcasts are great, except now they have trended towards talking about what junket they went on, what expensive car their driving, etc.
As automotive companies better realize the power of the internet, I foresee this will only get worse.
I understand that journalists deserve to make money, however, how can we really relate as readers when you are take, take, taking? How can you be objective?