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Big Food Woos Mommy Bloggers
Big Food Woos Mommy Bloggers
By Dan Mitchell
Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 - 3:05pm
Food companies like Nestle (NESN) and Pepsico's (PEP) Frito-Lay are wooing "mommy bloggers" (and some daddy bloggers) with lavish trips, meetings with third-tier celebrities, and assorted swag. Some parent bloggers (especially the ones who are offered—and take—the freebies) think it's just fine and of course they're not swayed by the practice. Others are appalled.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Frito-Lay flew blogger Andrea Deckard of the Mommy Snacks blog from Ohio to Los Angeles to meet model Brooke Burke and Mel B. of the Spice Girls. There she was pitched on the company's snack ad campaign. Deckard and 16 other bloggers were also treated by Nestle to a trip to Hollywood where they were feted and also brought up to date on that company's snack products.
"In return," the Times reports, "Deckard and her virtual sisterhood filed Twitter posts raving about Nestle's canned pumpkin, Wonka candy and Juicy Juice drinks."
"People have accused us of being corporate shills," Deckard told the Times, which reports that she's been on several such trips. But "it's not like I sold my soul for a chocolate bar."
Nope. She sold it for lots of free trips and other goodies, such as the Omaha steaks that Nestle was nice enough to send to her family while she was being whisked off to Hollywood.
"Some companies are even offering free kitchen appliances, vacations, groceries and enough fruity snacks to feed a neighborhood's worth of kids," according to the Times.
Comments
My Response
Mr. Mitchell,
I wouldn't call myself a mommy blogger but I am a food blogger. I think you pose a reasonable question. I have done reviews but have stated from the beginning that the product was free. I have maybe done five. I currently have one that I approached to do a review and giveaway. It was a cheese making kit. I wasn't successful the first time I used it but the second time I was. I even stated the reason why. But I approached them. This was a product I was interested in. As with all the products I have reviewed. Some had approached me through PR but I wanted to reveiw them. Perhaps I lucked out and got some great companies? I am a featured publisher with Foodbuzz.com and I have a strict code I have to walk. I even have a widget on my blog that will tell a PR company how I deal with reviews. They have a chance to walk away. Also I only take products I believe in. I do the research. 95% of my blog is about the food I make and my family. As a blogger this sort of thing comes our way. Just like anyone we will be tempted. I am not a professional by any means...nor are most bloggers. I feel that the problem is claiming that you are professional and you have an unbiased opinion. I agree totally that bloggers shouldn't say that unless they can back it up. As being an ethical blogger if I feel that I think a product is crap I have to tell the person who gave it to me. I then send the product back. Why should I keep something that I woudn't use or blog about?
What you might not be aware of is this is an issue we have been dealing with for quite a while. As community we are also dealing with PR fatigue. I get at least 50 PR emails a day. Some people feel the need to do everyone of them. Some people will sell their souls for a vaccuum cleaner. Many however do not. I can assure you that I (and most people I know) aren't really influenced by a mommy's opinion. More or less its what the person gets for free. But more than anything its about new products not old. Things that are hip and revelevent today. Items that don't have a voice yet. I could send you a ton of links in regards to that. I do feel the term "payola" is incorrect and quite harsh. You throw a bunch of great people into the mix with others. Another issue we are dealing with is the huge unpopularity of reviews. They aren't as popular anymore because blogs are too saturated with them. It's naturally being ditched. Mommy blogger eat their own if they are unethical.
I don't know the bloggers that are referenced in this article. I think that if they are being flown in that does raise some questions. Am I outraged? I feel that there are other things that require the emotion of outrage that are way more important. FTC regs are clear. We have only to follow them. But they are common sense are they not? I feel that FTC made things rather black and white so I don't understand why you are muckraking where it has already been done. If you are concerned..report them. An investigation will either prove you right or wrong. But if this is about ratings then maybe its not so outragous....maybe more hype than anything else. It's been addressed by everyone and you are quite a bit late to the party.
Christine Mack www.mamanandgourmand.blogspot.com
Christine
Yes, your comment was apparently in moderation and I only saw it now. I don't have much in the way of response other than to reiterate what I've already said. Whether or not you change your opinion as a result of getting freebies is sort of beside the point. Taking them represents a conflict of interest between your readers and your corporate benefactors. That's why newspapers, for example, and Web sites like this one have strict codes of ethics banning the practice. (And yes, I know there are times when those codes, at some publications, are ignored or applied differently to different writers. They shouldn't be.)
If you and other bloggers want to take payola from companies you write about, that of course is your right. But there are reasons so many people -- including many of your fellow mom and dad bloggers -- find it objectionable. And at some point, as the criticisms pile up, I assume you won't find them to be so shocking or unusual.
Thanks for commenting.
Ummm...
First of all, my husband did not "lash out" at the LA Times. In fact, he did not mention the article at all in his post. Not once. I, however, mentioned it in the intro, simply because the post was a result of a conversation that stemmed from the LA Times article and nothing more.
Now to address your last paragraph, in which you were so very bold to insinuate that my credibility as an influential mo is this space has been compromised, based on the simple fact that I do accept free products...
I do not consider myself a review blogger. I am, instead, a "mom
blogger" in every sense of the title – I am a mom who blogs. I write
about my family adventures, life with six little ones, and on occasion I happen to mention the products
and services that make family life fun.
The vast majority of my readers do not visit me simply to
hear about which products we like or don't like. They visit to read about our family. Yes, they have grown to value my opinion and
recommendations, but only because they know that I would not compromise my values simply because I've received something for free.
I do not get paid to give my opinion. Ever. The products that I receive are sent to me so I may form an opinion. The trips, for educational and relational purposes.
It’s that simple.
Andrea:
First, I certainly didn't mean this to be an "attack" -- certainly not a personal one. Also, nobody's criticising the stated purpose of your blog, and nobody's against blogs that help people save money. But I assume you know that.
What it comes down to from my perspective is that either readers come first or they don't. When companies are lavishing you with trips and gifts, readers have a right to wonder whether you're primarily concerned with them or with -- well, getting free trips and gifts. And if they don't know you, all they have to go on is your word.
I don't doubt that most if not all of your posts are sincerely aimed at helping your readers. But the ones that concern products made by the companies that gave you stuff? I don't know. And all I have to go on is your word. Since I don't know you, that's not enough.
As for your warning people off of specific products, I didn't see any of that, and I didn't think I had to scour your blog to find it since you state explcitly that you don't write anything negative.
If your main interest in taking the trips is to learn about products, you can either do so on your own dime, or via computer or telephone. Similarly, you can encourage companies to offer coupons and whatnot via the same means. You have a blog that those companies obviously know about. You can use that platform to get the message to them without creating the appearance of a conflict of interest.
You call yourself a professional. OK, but there are responsibilities attached to that word. Professionals hew to standards. Taking freebies from companies and then mentioning those companies and their products on a site that ostensibly offers independent advice violates what is a pretty basic standard.
I honestly don't think you're trying to put anything over on anyone, but this kind of thing is why the FTC moved to enact (ridiculously overreaching) rules.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FTC-Bloggers-testimonials-apf-468964868.ht...
Thanks for commenting.
I'm Baffled!
Well, I am actually surprised a *money* site would criticize a blog whose main goal is to help people save money!
You
read my disclosure and it does say that. If people are at all
interested in reading the ENTIRE disclosure it also states that I
consider the relevancy of each company and opportunity based on the
content found on Mommy Snacks. But, that probably made too much sense and you wanted to leave that out.
I'm not a writer, look at my recent posts, do they highlight a specific brand? Or, do they share with my readers how to save money? That's not writing for a corporation (as you state above), that's writing to help someone's wallet.
And to your comment about me *warning them off from making unwise
purchases* I do. You didn't do your research to look. I do it all the
time. I have a search bar on my site for a reason.
I talk about TONS of different brands - it's about helping my readers save. Listen, when your own child is faced with a surgical need and you need to find a way to pay for it, you will do whatever it takes to save money and try to share that with those who are in similar situations. When I have readers email me saying they are on the verge of bankruptcy and the info they find at my site is helping them stay afloat, I am inspired to do more. So, YEAH, if I am invited to go to the world's largest corporation and talk and learn more about their products, I will. I have an opportunity to encourage the brand to offer better coupons and produce higher quality products, I can be a voice for my thousands of readers. These things can impact someone's tomorrow. Too bad THAT wasn't mentioned in the article!
I don't do a lot of product reviews on my site. The few that I have done were for products that our family uses, if we use it we like it obviously. I'm not a writer, I don't claim to be a writer. I do have a few pieces I have written that I would consider *content* but again if you would have LOOKED into my site at all you would have known that.
Many of us are true professionals, successful and authentic. If you took any time to dig into my site - or any of the others mentioned - at all you would see that. But, NO, you are lumped in with all of the other reports who have chosen to take the easy road and continue the ridiculous attacks.
Well...
To be fair, most of them DO disclose it (though often on an obscure page). But I don't see how that really makes what they write any more credible. All it does is let readers know that they aren't really writing for readers, they're writing for the corporations that pay them for it.
Sigh
I love the defense these people throw out. I am not naive enough to believe that "objective" ever exists, but there is a huge difference between my reviewing say the lastest MP3 player and "reviewing" the latest MP3 player that the company gave me while on a trip they paid for. Either disclose the relationship or accept that you're a hypocrit.