FIAT to Useful Idiots: “Please also respond with your pricing for posting an advertorial like this.”
Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes. Robert Farago didn’t invent the idea of telling the truth about this business, but he made it possible for me, and others like me, to bring that truth forward. At this very moment, there are several “respected journalists” flying business class to Europe where they will be fêted and pampered like kings in five-star hotels along the Spanish coast. There, they will pretend to be the customers for cars they will never be able to afford as they attempt to drown the still, small voices of their stunted consciences with free alcohol. Best of luck to them.
Back here in the United States, one East Coast autowriter received the following email and decided that the best, the most fitting, the most ethical thing possible would be to forward it to me, so that I, and all of our readers, can see “how the sausage is made.”
From: Amanda Ford
To: [REDACTED]
Subject: Blogger Opportunity from FIATDear [REDACTED],
FIAT wants create a social buzz about the FIAT 500! We would love to partner with you and your site.
We are looking for bloggers in (your town) to feature their FIAT experience leveraging your social networks and your website.
The Blogger Experience:
You and a guest will be picked up by a FIAT Product Specialist in a FIAT 500 for a test drive to a local restaurant. You and your guest will be treated to a FIAT-inspired meal and receive a FIAT gift pack. The Product Specialist will take this time to drive around the city while you two enjoy your complimentary meal. The Product Specialist will then drop you and your guest off at the location you were picked up.This is an opportunity for you to have some fun with your experience by tweeting live, capturing video, pictures, etc. giving your thoughts on the FIAT 500 driving experience. This content should be published as an advertorial/blog post following the event…
Content possibilities:
• Your guest could use a Flipcam to record your driving experience
• Answers about the FIAT from the Product Specialist
• Photos of the FIAT
• Photos, review of the FIAT-inspired meal
• Features of FIAT 500: what you liked the most, how it drove, etc.Please let me know if you are available to be one of the bloggers helping FIAT get the word out about the FIAT 500. Please also respond with your pricing for posting an advertorial like this. In addition, your dinner will be covered for you and a guest up to $100.
We look forward to working with you to create a great experience for you & your readers!
Amanda Ford
Social Media Intern
GMR Marketing
I like the fact that FIAT is holding this bribe at arm’s length: that can be useful when you decide to make the pimp fall on his or her sword cane by disavowing all knowledge of the program. Some aspects of the program, however, could use improvement. I don’t think being crammed in the back of a 500 is a good way to start any dinner, unless your dinner date is
a) Mary Lou Retton and
b) willing to ride in the back
Also, $100 won’t get you much dinner. Hell, V. McB and I were in the Village last year and her bar tab was $280. Expect me to bump the pricing on that advertorial, Amanda, unless you want to step in and take the infamous bad girl’s place, in which case maybe I’ll float you a Benji. Just kidding! Please don’t turn me in for solicitation. I’m not trying to call you a whore. I will leave that to The Yankee Blogger, who calls mommyblogger Crissy Kight
…a “whore”… somebody who’ll say anything for a free lunch, a windbreaker and a totebag.
You know the game, Mr. Yankee Blogger. Your mommyblogger chose me. Now we can handle this like some gentlemen, or we can get into some gangster shit. (Link warning: includes pimping.)
Thanks to our anonymous blogger, and I will make him the following offer: Come to Columbus, Ohio, enjoy a dinner to your specifications from my personal chef, and take an evening out in my Boxster S. You see? Sometimes it pays to be honest.
Okay, you know what? I would totally shill on this just to see what the hell a “Fiat-inspired meal” might be. Veal McNuggets? Spaghetti Bolognese that’s actually just Ramen and ketchup?
No, I’ve got it: the waiter comes in and lifts the cover off a silver plate, releasing a huge cloud of steam. There’s nothing on the plate.
Re: the waiter comes in and lifts the cover off a silver plate, releasing a huge cloud of steam. There’s nothing on the plate…
No, that’s not Fiat inspired meal, that would be Alfa-Romeo-inspired meal.
They’ve even hired a guy to switch the lights on and off at random while you eat, to give you that authentic FIAT experience.
For the vintage FIAT experience, your fork and the product specialist’s fork are held together by a strap, so you have to eat in synch. The hard part is rolling up the pasta.
I was wondering wth a FIAT inspired meal was too…Pizza in one of Detroit’s best Coney Islands? A hot dog somewhere in Italy?
I’m starting to see these things around LA / OC…maybe 3/4 per week.
They are really pretty damn big, especially compared to the original 500.
Ahhhh! FIAT co-promotion with Olive Garden. Brilliant!
Thought that I could resist…..but free bread sticks and salad is too much.
“The Product Specialist will take this time to drive around the city while you two enjoy your complimentary meal.”
–WTH?? You have to eat while being driven around?
Pas du tout. The poor bastard who is driving you around in a subcompact will keep driving in a circle until you’re done eating. This is to keep you from having to be aware of his presence while you’re dining, and to ensure that you, the important New York blogger, aren’t kept waiting when you’re finished eating.
You gave it up, Jack. Get the New York part out of here lest your friend gets anxious.
Driving around would waste gas. The poor bastard would park illegally somewhere and eat his own fiat inspired sandwich.
I noticed the continuous motion aspect and wondered if this was to avoid the risk of shutting off and having to restart the car. But if it is in NYC, perhaps it is cheper to do that than pay the parking fees… or get nailed for loitering in the fast-food restaurant’s parking lot.
Good saussage-making exposé JB, pls keep ’em coming!
Looking at that picture all I can say is; “You talkin’ jive, Turkey?”
The Product Specialist will take this time to drive around the city while you two enjoy your complimentary meal.
That doesn’t sound very green.
I’m surprised they let an intern handle something like this. At least the blowback from having this piece posted on TTAC will contribute to her education!
I’m quite surprised that Fiat would allow such clumsy astroturfing, when Chrysler seems to be pretty good at reaching out to new media these days. For example, Chrysler seems to allow groups like TTAC access to their press fleet, even though a positive review is by no means guaranteed. There was also a Chrysler employee posting on here a while back, and he clearly identified himself as such.
I’m surprised that Fiat’s efforts are so crude in comparison.
Crude or not, they’re trying to sell cars any which way they can. And it’s not like this partnering to saturate the blogosphere with positive comments about a car maker is a new thing.
The UAW and the domestic car makers have been at it ever since the carmageddon of 2008, even right here on ttac. It is to ttac’s credit that so many UAW-shills and GM fanboys comment here because ttac is the best site for all things cars, even if the truth hurts, which it often does.
Fiat is a foreign company and they have a reputation to overcome that dates back to the last century. Trying to win over the hearts and minds of potential customers is an even greater challenge when Fiat had to be bribed to the tune of $1.3BILLION in taxpayer bucks to take Chrysler off our hands.
In a society where the overwhelming majority of taxpayers was against bail outs, hand outs and nationalization of failed domestic automakers, you can’t blame Fiat for pulling out all the stops to get positive PR comments going. They may even refer to themselves in the future as the savior of Chrysler. And they’d be right even though Chrysler is now a subdivision of Fiat and not a stand-alone manufacturer like it once was.
I’m amazed they haven’t offered these ‘respected journalists’ access to ’round the clock bunga-bunga parties.
Hats off to the anonymous blogger who sent in this piece! Hopefully it is for real. Anxiously awaiting follow-up comments from Fiat, if any. They’d be smart to blow it off.
“And they’d be right even though Chrysler is now a subdivision of Fiat and not a stand-alone manufacturer like it once was.”
And when was that? 2000? 2001? 05? 07? Have you forgot about Dumbler? Don’t tell me they were independent when Cerberus owned them. They had no control over their destiny and Cerberus had no intention of keeping them very long (or spending any money on them). Chrysler has not been captain of their own ship since 1998. However under FIAT’s control they are allowed a lot more freedom than they ever had under Dumbler or Cerberus.
windswords, I was referring to when Chrysler was an independent company. That ceased when Daimler took them over. What makes you think that Chrysler has a lot more freedom now as a subsidiary of Fiat?
Chrysler cannot call its own shots, it MUST ask Fiat’s permission for everything. There is no independent Chrysler thought or plan. It must all by approved by Sergio and the board, and that board was recently modified to include two more of Sergio’s cronies.
On this week’s episode of The Apprentice, Amanda’s team is using social media to promote the Fiat 500.
I wonder if this is something for the FTC to look at? Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) (15 USC 45) prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” An act or practice is deceptive where a representation, omission, or practice misleads or is likely to mislead the consumer.
My interpretation is that the junkets might be in a gray area, but the practice of banning writers that post negative reviews crosses the line. The former say “here’s a nice meal, please write a nice review” whereas the latter says “write a bad review and you’ll be shut off.”
I’m definitely not an expert on the FTC Act, but I think the FTC should take a close look at these practices. A Congressional investigation would be more entertaining. Can you imagine these journalists getting grilled by Congress and having to list all of the perks they get in front of the cameras?
Auto companies have nothing on drug companies. Drug companies pay big bucks to fly doctors out to fancy locations (e.g. Hawaii) to attend “conferences” promoting their newest drugs. These trips are 100% free for the doctors.
Any Congressional investigation should include drug companies too.
You’re right and in fact there is a lot of activity at both the state and federal levels around those issues. In Massachusetts we have Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 111N, the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturer Code of Conduct or “Massachusetts Marketing Code of Conduct” to help keep the pharmaceutical companies in line. However, as far as I know there hasn’t been the equivalent of the “banning” practice in the life sciences industry. That’s where I think certain auto companies have really crossed a legal line.
Come to Columbus, Ohio
Good, God, even unethical bloggers has some standards.
*Applause*
*rimshot*
I remember my first company lunch after moving to Columbus as part of the merger of my software company. I got taken out to a chili chain for something called a “three-way”. As the son of a classically-trained chef, it still gives me gastronomical nightmares.
Ahh, Skyline Chili. We have Cincinnati to thank/blame for that one, they do some terrible, terrible things with chili down there.
Why doesn’t GAZ fly me to Odessa, so I can do an advertorial about the ’12 Oka? You listening, GAZ?
I figure the Oka “gift pack” would be pretty good.
You will prolly get a free radiation suit in that “gift pack,” Murilee. ;P
Comrade Brezhnev,
Oka is VAZ, not GAZ. Both GAZ and VAZ are in Russia. Odessa is in Ukraine. Ukraine has ZAZ that was making Zaporozhets.
i think they could use the word “FIAT” more in that correspondence…
I would pay money to see Jack entertain those two FIAT hostesses in a FIAT 500 at a gratis FIAT dinner
Did I mention FIAT is graciously picking up the tab?
FIAT!
What would the translation to Vodka McB be?
A “FIAT inspired meal” is one that is only lukewarm. The oven broke while cooking it.
Since the 500 came out, I’ve seen quite afew driving around already,I first thought: “What a bunch of suckers” then I remembered seeing a bunch of new Smarts when they came out, and that’s even worse.
Fiat-Inspired Meal: Burger-bun crumbles immediately. Burger-meat full of gristle, catches on fire. Leaks sauce. Fries don’t work; can’t be swallowed or chewed. Chef doesn’t know how to fix it. Can’t sell the meal to anyone in the restaurant, at any price.
I will not have FIAT ridiculed! I have just returned from a day marching around all 11 buildings of the IAA in Frankfurt and beyond any doubt the FIAT Group (Ferrari, FIAT, Maserati, Alfa-Romeo, Lancia and, uh, Jeep) had the best-looking Booth Babes/Information Hostesses of the entire show. Nothing could be more effective in getting a 55 year old balding man into a new FIAT 500 than a miniskirted hostess wielding an iPad. Although I did have a creeping feeling that the appearance of the hostesses was in inverse proportion to the attractiveness of the cars. We all had a good laugh about the Lancia Thema, nee Chrysler 300…
I have got to start a car blog.
Madam, we’ve already established what kind of woman you are, now we’re just negotiating the price.
“We are looking for bloggers in (your town) to feature their FIAT experience leveraging your social networks and your website.”
Whenever I hear the term ‘leverage’ used outside of the context of mechanical forces I get really, Really nervous…
…is that normal?
It is perfectly normal. You’re just having flashbacks from the days of leveraged buyouts.
With the continued delay of additional Fiat/Alfa products, how long until all the Fiat dealers start feeling over-leveraged? They were counting on more than just the 500 to pay the mortgage on those fancy new Fiat showrooms.
You gotta give some credit to the bosses; the offer was signed by an intern. Holding a potential recommendation over her head, she had to put it out there, protecting the instigators from potential exposes like this one. The unpaid intern gets all the risk, the “journalists” get the bennies, what’s not to like?
Sadly, this is a common marketing tactic. In my industry, Microsoft donated laptops loaded with Windows Vista to influential bloggers in return for good buzz about the new OS. Another time, they flew influential Palm bloggers to Redmond Washington and wined and dined them and gave them goody bags in an effort to create favorable spin for their Win CE devices.
Ethically speaking, this is one step above astro-turfing, so there will be takers. The Fiat bloggers need to write that travel, accommodations, food, car, insurance, and — depending on what they had for dinner — gas, was provided by Fiat.
At least this kind of crap will produce extremely obvious blog content.
This one was far more clever, in my opinion: A lakefront condo developer here in Toronto bought new sails for a small fleet of Albacores at a local grassroots sailing club.
The catch? The club would have its members (who need to work off their mandatory hours) sail those boats back and forth in plain view of the sales office on weekends, for a month.
That one flipped my wig, and I only heard about it because I’m part of the club.
Fiat inspired meal=Italian sub as prepared by the chefs at 7-11
The Fiat 500 – Designed in Italy, made in Poland, and then re-engineered by Americans to be built in Mexico…
I’m thinking bean perogies with marinara sauce and then all the Bud you can drink to make you forget about it.
Autoextremist’s rant today is about the last marketing company Fiat recently fired. The weight of the world now rests on your shoulders, Amanda Brown, Social Media Intern, GMR Marketing.
Did I miss something or will the blogger never get behind the wheel? Offering to buy you for $100 is an insult. Not letting you drive is injury.
So I would accept the offer, eat the lunch, review and report on the car honestly… like any good journalist.
That girl is cute.
Ahem:
“If you click her “Ads & PR” link, you’ll note that she calls her site a “PR-Friendly blog” and openly solicits things like product demos or giveaways. You got cash? She’ll even let you sponsor her Facebook or twitter posts…”
She changed her “Ads & PR” link, btw. Now it only says “If you would like to send samples of your product for possible review or feature on Dear Crissy…”
I called her a “whore.” Maybe that was a little harsh.
What do they call themselves now, “escorts?”