Dubit Insider And Barbie Girl
One of my most commented posts is about barbiegirls.com. It’s mainly used as a message board, with a core group of girls passing comments back and forth. A few months ago, I got a few comments that were obviously of the astroturfing variety, written from same IP address but different names, using the same tone of hyperbole about how good the site was. I never posted them, emailing the writer to see if they were involved in Barbie in anyway. I also contacted Mattel to see if they had any information about it.
I never got a response from either party, which I consider poor service from Mattel. A few weeks later, I got a few more similar comments, one of which this time identified themselves as part of the Barbie Girls Team. A few searches later led me to the Dubit Insider page, calling for girls to join up and spread the word. They have to:
- build a fan site
- take photos of themselves with the dolls and MP3 players; hold a party with friends
- promote the dolls and players on other sites
In return they get a MP3 players, merchandise and a party pack. This seems like a good deal to me. But the problem is obviously that the company are not promoting ethical behaviour in the first place. In the UK at least, it’s also illegal to post such ‘fan’ comments without identifying themselves. Dubit Insider were promoting a lot of street teams, although many are currently hidden, and there are no guidelines or contact details on the site. There’s not even a Privacy Policy to let you know what they do with your personal details.
From the site, there’s nothing to indicate legitimacy and from the behaviour of the people posting on my site originally, they are not promoting good ettiquette and may actually be promoting illegal activity. That can’t be good for any brand associated with the company.
I added a response comment to the second round of comments posted from the team and they have at least since then said they are from the team.
As a brand, you can’t be associated with activity like this. Transparency and credibility are essential when you are encouraging and rewarding fans for spreading the word, otherwise it is just as likely to backfire on you.
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