mandydale

Yesterday, I walked by a bus shelter on Van Ness and did a double take. I saw this seemingly standard ad for Listerine:

What made me stop was the claim in the headline, “If you think it’s just for your mouth, think bigger.” What? Listerine does more than simply clean my mouth? Reading the fine print, I discovered what Listerine was trying to tout:

“Emerging science suggests that there may be a link between the health of your mouth and the health of your body. Physicians and dentists don’t yet know the exact connection, but several theories exist. And because a healthy mouth is one thing everyone agrees is important, there’s Listerine — proven to help keep your mouth healthier by killing germs that cause plaque and gingivitis.*”

Emerging science? Doctors don’t know the connection? Theories? This is supposed to convince me to drop everything to go over to Walgreen’s a buy a bottle of mouthwash? Here’s a close up of the claim:

Advertising claims are closely regulated by the FTC, so I knew that if Listerine was going to make a claim as ambiguous as “emerging science” claiming a link between a “healthy mouth” and a “healthy body,” there would need to be some sort of evidence that Listerine used to make that claim.

It turns out that Listerine just launched its “emerging science” campaign last week, and has a website dedicated to the claims it is making. The site and corresponding press release explain that “while a causal link has not been established,” gingivitis, if allowed to progress to gum disease, “may contribute to broader health problems” including “cardiovascular diseases, pre-term low birth weight, diabetes and stroke.” Those are fairly hefty claims that Listerine is alluding to, especially since they have no true evidence to back it up. Listerine even goes out of its way to provide the obligatory legal line:

“It is important to note, however, that a cause and effect relationship between periodontal disease and systemic diseases has not been established. What is known is that emerging science suggests an association.”

So wait a second here. There may or may not be a cause and effect relationship between gum disease and say, diabetes? Why is Listerine even bothering to move forward with a campaign that has so little to say, and such vague associations? The reality is that advertising makes these sort of claims all the time, but generally, even so, the claims have more evidence backing up the claim than just the vague phrase “emerging science.” Digging through their site, little information is provided, with unclear references to “studies” and “theories” without providing concrete evidence. It seems so strange that Listerine would focus its ad dollars on promoting a claim with no proven causality.

Seth Godin recently discussed Ponzi and Pyramid schemes and how they are used in an online setting. While Ponzi schemes are certainly rife both in the online and offline worlds, they are distinct from Pyramid schemes which are more in the line of MLM (a la Tupperware parties). He points out the self-proclaimed “Advertising 2.0″ company MMMZR which embraces an MLM approach of marketing as part of their revenue model, leaving many people feeling that it is a distasteful approach to online advertising.

One interesting point Seth makes is in regards to pyramid schemes, specifically when it may not have to do with the exchange of money, or if money is exchanged, it is almost a side benefit. He notes that sites like Digg have an element of a pyramid scheme built into the very core of the site’s design. Meaning that some Digg uses can abuse the system in a way to promote themselves, their clients, or issues. And while word of mouth can be used in a manipulative way, could there be an invisible hand that self-regulates these social tools due to our desire to embrace authenticity, while eschewing motives that seem like scams?

Linden Lab, the makers of virtual world Second Life announced to their customers that its database, which includes customer names, addresses, passwords and credit card information had been hacked.

While Linden Lab’s CTO Cory Ondrejka advised users to “change their Second Life passwords immediately,” this security breach occurs after a string of events in the last week that have brought up the issue of privacy. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology to Facebook users after a week of protests regarding a new feature that perhaps exposed to much information to other users about a person’s decision to make changes to their profile. Jason Fortuny’s prank of posing as a woman on Craiglist, and then posting the photos and identifying information points to the fact that people are far too open in sharing their personal information with complete strangers online.

Regardless, more privacy tools are needed online — and fast. Tools like Google Checkout, eBay’s PayPal, Bill Me Later and other alternatives to credit card payments have already made people more comfortable about shopping online. People may also want think twice before sharing their profiles, photos, email addresses and other sensitive data with others who they do not already have an established, trusted relationship.

It turns out that the widely popular lonelygirl15 on YouTube is a concoction made up by Hollywood. Lonelygirl15 (a.k.a “Bree” on her video posts) began posting her videos in early June 2006, and quickly became a phenomenon, jumping to the second most subscribed channel on YouTube, and people even started to respond with their own video responses to lonelygirl15’s video posts. While the details of who really is behind the posts (and why) are yet to unfold, there are plenty of upset fans who feel duped.

The discovery was made by lonelygirl15 fans who as internet sleuths detected that the IP address from emails sent by lonelygirl15 were coming from CAA (Creative Artists Agency) fueling speculation that the video posts were a viral campaign for an upcoming horror film release. Furthermore, the creators posted a message on a fan website for lonelygirl15, where they admitted she was an actor, but failed to provide any further information, stating:

Right now the biggest mystery of Lonelygirl15 is “who is she?” We think this is an oversimplification. Lonelygirl15 is a reflection of everyone. She is no more real or fictitious than the portions of our personalities that we choose to show (or hide) when we interact with the people around us.

Regardless if CAA is behind this new approach of marketing, the real question is should marketers consider this to be an appropriate way of reaching their audience. When it comes to advertising, there has been a current debate on whether it is ok to essentially hide the true origin of a campaign in a online teaser or viral component, or whether the true intent and message should be transparent to the audience. The repercussions of keeping the true intent (i.e. marketing campaign, advertisment for a movie, etc.) from the audience could include the potential of the viewers feeling alienated or angry by being duped. And that, could cause serious brand management issues.