Happy anniversary to Wal-marting Across America
Ah, the good old days. It was Oct., 12, 2006, and my first month as a blogger when I came across this story in Business Week. It involved Jim and Laura and the fake blog called “WalMarting Across America.” The story became instant folklore in the 2.0 digital world of PR and marketing. I wrote about it here -- three years ago yesterday. The story caused quite blow-up in the blogosphere, not to mention great embarrassment to the blog’s creators, Edelman Public Relations. Prior to “WalMarting,” Edelman had been the leading proponents of social media in PR. And thanks to a swift response to this crisis, the firm has maintained that leadership position. The “Walmarting” case is now in the ethics textbooks, and we all have a chance to learn from it. My students read about it just today.
But speaking objectively, was the case really all that high-profile? Ask anyone outside the 2.0 echo chamber about Walmart’s fake blog and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Sometimes what happens here isn’t nearly as important as we think it is. Regardless, it's been a great case for my students to learn the importance of transparency and authenticity — two things I fear the 2.0 world will never achieve.
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I cross posted this at my "real" blog. If I start to make this a habit, I promise to shut one of them down.
