Lameflix: Netflix Hires Actors To Give Interviews Pretending To Be Excited About Canadian Netflix Launch
from the eh? dept
We've talked in the past about how Netflix has done a lot right over the years, but that doesn't preclude them from making a wrong step. Apparently, with the company's launch in Canada, it decided to hire actors to pretend they were really excited at the launch event (found via Mathew Ingram). Not only that, but many of the paid "actors" were then made available to journalists to interviews about how excited they were... without revealing that they were being paid by Netflix. They were apparently given the following instructions:"Extras are to behave as members of the public, out and about enjoying their day-to-day life, who happen upon a street event for Netflix and stop by to check it out," reads an information sheet handed out to extras.Netflix has since apologized, and claimed that the "script" wasn't supposed to be given to the "extras," but was merely to get the permit for the launch event, which they had described as a "documentary." Either way, the fact that no one saw a problem with this before it got this far is pretty damning.
"Extras are to look really excited, particularly if asked by media to do any interviews about the prospect of Netflix in Canada."
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Wait...what?
It's now "dirt" when a company pays actors to advertise a product and doesn't tell anyone?
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Re: Wait...what?
It's now "dirt" when a company pays actors to advertise a product and doesn't tell anyone?
The problem is hiring actors to show up at an event and *talk to the press* pretending to be normal people so excited about the launch of Netflix.
Companies can hire actors to advertise their product all they want. What they can't do is send them out to the press pretending they haven't been paid by Netflix to promote it.
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Re: Re: Wait...what?
I couldn't connect the dots because I don't put the same stock in journalism as most do, I suppose.
I mean, think about it. The original story was about Netflix's entry into the Canadian market. Would it really matter the excitement was fake or not?
Now that this story broke out, one has to wonder if the journalists were duped with an even better publicity stunt.
Either way, Netflix got its publicity and we all know there's no difference between bad and good publicity. The Streisand Effect, if you will, plays a small part here.
Right? ;)
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Re: Re: Wait...what?
In the US they need to state paid actors.
Is this something that needs to be done in canada?
or is it perfectly acceptable behavior there from an advertising perspective?
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Re: Wait...what?
How about when they're purposefully told to go ahead and mislead the press?
How about when they come up with the lame explanation that this stuff wasn't supposed to go to the extras, when the instructions given refer specifcally to those extras?
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Re: Re: Wait...what?
Ah, good point. Triply damning. Damning for trying it in the first place, damning for thinking they could get away with it, and damning for trying to cover it up.
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The only...
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Doubly damning
It's doubly damning. It's damning that they thought it was OK to do this in the first place and it's damning that they thought they could get away with this. So, did they give each extra a fake name to use? If not, didn't they consider that some reporter would use their smart phone and google the name of the interviewee? If you're going to try and lie to the public, at least put some effort into it. Sheesh.
(And how did they find out that they were extras and not real people anyway? Didn't the author of the linked article think that this might be relevent? Apparently not. Instead of answering the question on most peoples' minds who are reading the article i.e. how was Netflix busted, instead we get boilerplate paragraphs about Netflix's entry into Canada. Nice journalism there, 570News.com.)
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Product Endorsement Representatives
Misleading the press? Are you kidding me? Whatever gets ratings for the media company...paid actors or real people...they don't care.
Blogs, comments, and other types of Viral Marketing have been happening since the 1st person was able to share a thought on the Internet. People who are paid to spread the good word about a product are EVERYWHERE!
Wake up people! If you don't like that the world is trying to sell you something - do us all a favor and UNPLUG.
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Re: Product Endorsement Representatives
The difference between most actors involved in advertising is that people know they're actors. See a commercial on TV with a non-celebrity? Actor. Hear non-celebrity on a radio commercial? Actor. Invited to an event where people are walking up on the street and giving interviews to the press? You can bet the presumption is that they are part of the general public and not being paid to endorse the product.
People who are paid to spread the good word about a product are EVERYWHERE!
So are thieves, rapists, and murderers. It doesn't make it right. What in the hell does how common something is relate to whether or not it's moral?
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Re: Re: Product Endorsement Representatives
*peers creepily above his cubicle walls*
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Re: Re: Re: Product Endorsement Representatives
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Re: Re: Product Endorsement Representatives
So are thieves, rapists, and murderers. It doesn't make it right. What in the hell does how common something is relate to whether or not it's moral?
What a wildly inappropriate comparison.
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Re: Re: Re: Product Endorsement Representatives
You do understand the concept of the comparison, right? Saying that two things are similar in one respect does not in any way, shape, or form imply that they are similar in all or even most respects. It's quite simple, really.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Product Endorsement Representatives
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Product Endorsement Representatives
Apparently you don't because if you did, you'd know that a comparison doesn't require 100% similarity.
It doesn't mean extrapolating "there are actors everywhere" to "there are rapists everywhere" any less absurd.
It's not an extrapolation; it's a comparison. Actors paid to endorse a product (by lying) are (according to the original poster) "everywhere". There are people who do other unethical things, like rapists, everywhere too. These two groups are similar in that they both do unethical things and are everywhere. Why is this comparison "wildly inappropriate"? Because you falsely think that I'm trying to imply that lying to a reporter is the same level of immorality as raping someone?
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NFLX
Who ever heard of such a thing.
Grow up.
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Re: NFLX
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Non-issue
The big difference with Netflix is the interace you choose. Tbe Roku player is the best bag for your buck. Just link this player to your Netflix account and you can take anywhere there is an internet connex.
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Astroturfing
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Color me SHOCKED!!!
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Shorter Netflix: We didn't mean to lie to the press, just to the permit office.
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Should I become a market executive?
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Well suck it, rational people! I was right! Booyah
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Hurray for Twitter, Shame on the Journalists
When I was reporting technology news it was always obvious who was the paid shill at an announcement or what wasn't being told to the audience. I remember when Lotus showed us a new 123 release in the 1980s (now I've aged myself). It was suspiciously fast and most of us spotted it after an amazingly short recalculation time. When pressed the spokeswoman admitted the CPU was a new experimental core called Pentium that Intel had loaned to Lotus for lab testing and the marketing team had usurped for Dog and Pony shows. It seems that cheating is common when a large amount of money is involved and should always be looked for. Perhaps the real story is the apparent laziness and gullibility and ignorance of the press.
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Re: Hurray for Twitter, Shame on the Journalists
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Doesn't matter anyway
And don't get me started on the 512meg cap on the iPhone, what is it in the States? 2gig for a normal package?
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Re: Doesn't matter anyway
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Re: Doesn't matter anyway
I'm with Teksavvy and for $30/month you get 200GB cap. $40 gets you unlimited
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While I find this truely scummy ....
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The most surprising thing is that Netflix doesn't NEED to resort to such underhanded tactics - they have a great, successful service that people are happy with - why stoop to this level to "get people excited?"
Some overzealous marketing person should NOT have been allowed to go this far.
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Star Wars 1-6 - not available
Matrix trilogy - not available
Indiana Jones (movies and tv series) - not available
Waterworld - available.... oh joy
The only recent movies I'm seeing are real second stringers like Bulletproof monk.
As the kids say - At first I was like :0 :D, but then I was like :-(
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Re: Netflix Content
Do they have good 'B' pictures (or pictures styled as such). I looked up a few personal favorites on the Canadian site to see:
Any Tarantino movies? Only 'Reservoir Dogs'
'Big Night' Tony Shaloub, Stanley Tucci, and Ian Holm? NO
'Dog Soldiers'? NO
'Congo'? NO
'200 Cigarettes'? NO
Fellini Pictures? Only 81/2 and La Strada
Akira Kurosawa? Seven films, not bad, but hardly a comprehensive collection.
'THX1138'? NO
Carpenter's 'Dark Star'? NO
'Little Miss Sunshine'? NO
I have to agree with you Joe, kinda lame.
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i'd call it consumer fraud
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impersonation laws?
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Dishonesty Due To Greed, Call Them On It
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Subject
I finally got the notice and I quickly signed up for the 1 month free trial. I kept thinking "finally I can watch all that I can eat movies and TV shows and not have to pirate anymore and save hard drive space."
For $7.99 a month I thought that was a bargain as I would have been willing to pay TRIPLE that for a high quality all you can eat service!
I have to say, I'm dissapointed with the selection of movies and TV shows. Most of the stuff I really WANT to watch are not listed. I imagine it has to do with that nasty "due to license restrictions this content can not be viewed in your country" nonsense as well as the networks/studios that are not willing to join the service. Note: Hulu is not available in Canada and proxy services are all eventually weeded out due to monitoring of excessive amount of traffic requests from one or more IP addresses.
My overall feeling is; I probably will not go passed the free trial. I do NOT like restrictions whatsoever, so I may just go back to pirating. It may take a bit of time to download what I want and it may take up hard drive space, but at least I can watch everything I want without those nasty country restrictions.
F*CK the corporations with their restrictions and refusing to take part in offering services based on convenience. I was willing to pay for a legitimate service, but you've just driven me back to piracy.
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Speak of the devil
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/09/22/netflix-ceo-reed-hastings.html
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