Bloggers supposedly received $10 gift cards in exchange for writing a positive story about Toyota.
I just received an email that absolutely astounded me, regarding a blogging opportunity from Toyota for mom bloggers. Tell me if this doesn’t just seem wrong on so many levels. Of course, you’ve heard all of the scary news about the Toyota sudden acceleration problem, and I am sure it has been a headache of epic proportions for Toyota.
I’m still picking up the pieces of my broken heart after learning that Toyota Doesn’t Make Cars for Me, and now, this. Toyota wants to give me a $10 Amazon gift card to post some of their recent “positive news” on my blog, Tweet it to my 32,000 Twitter followers, and give a whole slew of their videos an endorsement on YouTube.
Looking around the internet, there is often a thin line between editorial content and advertising. It's not surprising to go to an entertainment blog on a Friday to not only see that the page has been skinned with an ad for a new movie but also a gallery of that movie's star or a fluff interview with someone in the film. But some mommy bloggers say they're not willing to cross that line by accepting a $10 gift card in exchange for writing a positive story about Toyota.
From the e-mail sent to the mommy bloggers:
"I need you to:
Write a post about the report & good news
In the post, link to a few of the articles or videos below
If possible, share on social networks or “thumbs up” the YouTube videos."
Link:
http://dearcrissy.com/toyota-pays-mom-bloggers-10-to-bury-bad-press/