A history of brands hacking Wikipedia

The North Face found itself in hot water this week when it hacked Wikipedia for its own marketing stunt. Violating Wikipedia’s paid advocacy guidelines, The North Face’s Brazilian office, working with Leo Burnett Tailor Made, switched images on Wikipedia pages of popular outdoor travel destinations to images of athletes wearing its products in order to appear higher in Google search. In response, Wikipedia updated The North Face’s Wikipedia page with a section linking to information on its Wikipedia deception. Rearing from plenty of backlash online, The North Face has apologized and ended the campaign. The hacking attempt is nothing new to Wikipedia. Since Wikipedia launched in 2001, multiple brands and agencies have manipulated the site’s open format, which allows anyone to edit articles, for their own marketing gain. Among brands previously called out are Burger King, SeaWorld and NBC News. Violations of trust Of course, Wikipedia has conflict-of-interest and paid-disclosure policies in place to eliminate articles that that mislead its large audience. After all, it’s accessed by more than 1.5 billion unique devices a month and is edited more than 350 times a minute. That’s according to Zack McCune, senior global brand manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia and its 250,000 volunteer editors, who have greater editing powers than the general public. But clearly, such policies haven’t stopped brands like The North Face.   “When brands... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-31 19:53:32 UTC ]
News tagged with: #pr firm

Other Publishing stories related to: ' A history of brands hacking Wikipedia '


Andrews looks to history for Headline

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 10:30 Headline has signed a book by its author Lyn Andrews, marking the saga writer's historical fiction début. Director of publishing Marion Donaldson bought British Commonwealth rights (including Canada) to The Border Lord... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anne boleyn #henry viii


Children's laureate takes on Waterstone's branding

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 21/04/2011 - 08:20 The new children's laureate, to be announced in June, will be branded the Waterstone's children's laureate for the first time. The chain has been the major sponsor of the laureateship since 2006, and is understood to have... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #continued support


LIFE.com Rejuvenates Brand Through Website

LIFE magazine, started in 1936 by Time Inc. founder Henry Luce, has found new life in LIFE.com. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #life magazine


"Bold" Bloomsbury book wins Hessell-Tiltman history prize

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 24/03/2011 - 08:34 Bloomsbury's The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: the History of a Civilisation from 3,000 BC to Cleopatra has won this year's £3,000 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History. Written by Toby Wilkinson, the book was commended by... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ancient egypt


Sainsbury's launches own-brand kids' books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 07/03/2011 - 09:00 Sainsbury's has launched a range of own brand pre-school children's books, publishing eight titles in collaboration with Dorling Kindersley. The titles went on sale on Saturday [5th March] in more than 200 of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #titles including #dorling kindersley #supermarket chain #children aged


Bookmarc: Bookstore as Luxury Brand

Bookstores may be many things, but fashionable isn’t usually one of them. That could change now that designer Marc Jacobs has put his imprimatur on Bookmarc stores on both coasts and added branded Bookmarc sections to a handful of MJ stores from Provincetown, Mass., to San Francisco, as well as... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |