Wall St Journal: Exxon Mobil PR Firm Behind "Inconvenient Truth" YouTube Spoof

Shades of Leni Riefenstahl.

The Wall St. Journal has done some good old-fashioned investigative reporting to find that "Al Gore's Penguin Army" a YouTube video spoofing "An Inconvenient Truth" was posted by "Toutsmith" from a computer registered to DCI Group, a Washington, D.C., PR and lobbying firm whose clients include oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. Frankly not surprising given the ethical level at which most PR firms operate, but good reporting from the Journal.

Of course now ad PR agencies, those clueless wonders who are still producing flashing banner ads and PR-speak press releases, are saying "Wow! We can use this social media to run annoying messages and make people buy stuff."

The good news: like character blogs that were blown off the Internet by disgusted viewers and bloggers, social media exploitation soon will also go the way of the dinosaurs, along with the agencies that create them.

The Gore-spoof video shows penguins snoring as the President drones on about global warming causing the mid-east crisis, Lindsay Lohan's anorexia, and other issues. The penguins also snore through tongue-in-cheek advice on ways to stop global warming: stop exhaling, become vegetarian, walk everywhere, no matter the distance, take cold showers. The video has been viewed more than 67,000 times on YouTube; more than 12,000 times this morning.

The Journal also notes that Paramount Classics, the distributor of "An Inconvenient Truth," had cartoonist and Simpsons creator Matt Groening, spoof the Gore movie with "A Terrifying Message from Al Gore," which has had nearly a million views. Paramount is identified as the source next to the video.

Traffic to the penguin video, first posted on YouTube.com in May, got a boost from prominently placed sponsored links that appeared on Google search engine when users typed in "Al Gore" or "Global Warming." The ads, which didn't indicate who had paid for them, were removed shortly after The Wall Street Journal contacted DCI Group on Tuesday.

The Journal also noticed the long-standing trend for marketers eager to build buzz for books, music and summer movies to use YouTube to promote them. And, the story notes, as if it were news:

"Now, it's being tapped by political operatives, public relations experts and ad agencies to sway opinions.

And because amusing animations with a homespun feel can be created just as easily by highly paid professionals to promote agendas as by talented amateurs, caveat emptor is more relevant than ever."

Comments

Posted by: 33nick at August 3, 2006 4:39 PM

Posted by: Paull Young at August 5, 2006 3:32 AM

Posted by: Tom France at August 6, 2006 10:01 AM

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