Crunching Nuts: Jericho Wrap-Up

Just a few weeks ago, Jericho fan Jeff Knoll had a somewhat nutty idea. If the fans could hook up with a nut company, they might be able to pool enough money to buy "a few hundred pounds."

If ever there was an underestimated measure of success, this was it. Fans not only sent a few hundred pounds, they sent a few thousand pounds — 40,297 pounds to be exact. And that doesn't count the nuts that were bought elsewhere.

Yesterday, two pounds from NutsOnline.com landed on my doorstep. Fortunately for me, they were a thank you instead of protest flack (rumor has it I may never write about Jericho again. Hmmm ... spoiler warning ahead).

Given all the what-for about "blogola" lately, I did what any ethical writer would do. I'm disclosing today that I ate some with a clear conscience. They are just as "yummy" as the bag claims. Thanks.

Not so yummy were portions of Nina Tassler's announcement to the fans last Wednesday. I couldn't bring myself to mention them on June 6 because it would have only distracted from the celebratory success of the fans. In wrapping up the show protest, I'd be remiss not to bring it up now.

"A loyal and passionate community has clearly formed around the show. But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we make the show available."

If there was ever an inappropriate time to bring up the point, it was certainly in the same graph that praises the following of fans. It smacks of a parent telling a child what to do and when to do it, and that comes from associates of mine who weren't fans but knew I had been "covering nuts" since the beginning. Is it any wonder why CBS and Les Moonves come under fire so often?

CBS is fortunate the fans love the show so much that they've already forgiven this transgression and moved on to marketing the show. They might not be this forgiving next time around.

It's also not the first time that CBS slipped with statement writing (or marketing for that matter). I submit that CBS created the fan outcry with a single line on May 18 when another post penned by Tassler read: "In the coming weeks, we hope to develop a way to provide closure to the compelling drama that was the Jericho story."

Had the statement held back even a little bit — "In the coming weeks, we hope to develop a way to see what we can do." — Jericho fans would have had a much more difficult time mounting a movement (but I'm glad they were able to pull together the biggest).

Wow. The difference a few words can make when one underestimates a crisis communication situation. No matter, I suppose, unless you are one of the few subscribing to the conspiracy theory that CBS orchestrated the whole thing. I don't think they did, but then again, crazier things have been known to happen.

For me, what started as a crisis communication case study shifted into a study of social media mobilization that might wake up some public relations professionals and communicators who are still sleeping comfortably in corporate tradition. (Case in point: it just happened here in Las Vegas too; Wynn Las Vegas dealers became the first dealers in the history to unionize because the employees could connect on the Internet.) I'm not surprised.

Social media — blogs, vlogs, wikis, podcasts, networks, and scores of other tools — represent a significant shift in communication tactics. It also allows almost any group, with the right objective and rally cry, to come together and change a company, industry, or even the world.

For my part, I enjoyed writing about the show cancellation protest because of what it represents and the spirited nature of the fan base. Some people said I was "nuts" to cover it so much, but only because they didn't bother to look behind the literal lines and notice that today's Jericho might be tomorrow's social media crisis for "company X." Will company X be ready? Probably not.

The fans of Jericho have been an awesome addition to the people I know and admire online. Enough so that our Jericho round up is almost too good to let go. Sure, the Jericho show cancellation protest is clearly over and I have to say case closed.

But I see another case study in the making as fans set out to create a fan base for a serial that, so far, has only enjoyed a single season. Hmmm... I'll post some ideas on how they might proceed tomorrow (and mention some efforts already in place). I'll also keep tabs on the Jericho fans from time to time, once a week or so as warranted.

Will this cause some of my non-Jericho readers to groan and moan and suggest that "Jericho" become my middle name? I don't think so. Until Jericho, I seldom posted on the weekends anyway. Besides, Jericho cannot be my middle name because I'm already Je.rich.o's middle name. Ha!

Bailing Paris: Sheriff Lee Baca

Sometimes when you win, you really lose. At least that seems to be the theme for Paris Hilton, who was released from jail yesterday for a mysterious mental medical condition. She was released after serving three days of a 23-day sentence.

With more public outcry than most mass murderers, media and concerned citizens made her the poster child for "buying freedom." Suddenly, without warning, the publicity beast she has gracefully embraced for more than a decade turned to bite her back.

The decision to free Hilton prompted attorney L.A. city attorney Rocky Delgadillo to file a petition questioning whether Sheriff Lee Baca should be held in contempt of court for releasing Hilton, led to media coverage that largely mocked the Hilton heiress, and convinced Rev. Al Sharpton to organize a march protest. Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer then ordered Hilton to report to court today at 9 a.m.

"There are any number of cases of people who handled being incarcerated badly and even have health conditions that are not released," Sharpton told The Associated Press. "But I think that it gives a very bad signal when Ms. Hilton is treated any differently than any other parole violator in their county or in this country."

While I have a hard time believing this a blatant case of racism (maybe), I do lean toward the John Gibson take: "Was it because she's white? Maybe just a bit, but more likely it happened because she's rich and her parents can make lawyers and shrinks work round the clock to move mountains."

For my part, I'm less interested in what is really non-news and more interested in the publicity beast that once appeared to be tamed by Hilton. As hard as it might be for some people to see it, she may have been happy to be released, but she did not do the bailing. Sheriff Baca did that. (As if the Los Angeles County Police Department didn't have enough public relations problems.)

No matter, it seems. Most people want to have the privileged head of Hilton, regardless of her role in the release. She may have had a hand in it or not. If she did, she did herself a great disservice.

Hilton's sometimes odd popularity was always fueled by her ability to woo a majority of the public (not the media, the public), which is why people petitioned for her not to go to jail in the first place.

The result of her release, however, unless publicist Elliot Mintz can master some major spin (he often does), could erode her credibility to the point where her brand of being strangely famous forever turns into unpleasantly infamous. It will be interesting to see who remains a friend after the popularity polls begin to dip over trying to bilk the system (whether she had a direct hand in it or not).

Ah publicity ... sure you can use it to be released from jail early, but this get out of jail card is not like Monoply. It's almost never given for free.

Splitting Frames: The Nikon Campaign

Reading Strumpette’s take on the Nikon Camera D80 campaign, you might think it’s the end of the profession as Amanda Chapel (a pseudonym?) purports to lesson Michael Kempner, MWWGroup, on the ethics of their blogger program.

Don’t get me wrong, Chapel has a fine blog that works real hard offering a smattering of "spicy" public relations observations to lure in the willing or wicked or whatever. There is no question that Strumpette is a popular blog that reads as the polar opposite of Steve Rubel’s Micro Persuasion, one of my favorites.

This time, I don’t really agree with Chapel’s twist on the Nikon story. She claims this is blatant bribery or “blogola.” All I see is that there seems to be some rumbling from public relations professionals that maybe, just maybe, they don’t know whether the campaign is ethical or not. Ho hum.

For the most past, the blogger campaign seems to be a natural extension of “Picturetown” where Nikon gave away 200 cameras to the residents of Georgetown, S.C. ADWEEK’s Barbara Lippert recently wrote that there is “something really satisfying about basing an ad campaign on the real stuff of user-generated content. It bulks up the experience and democratizes the process, not only for picture takers, but also for the viewers.”

So why not bloggers? Eric Eggertson, who pens Common Sense PR, seems to think that it is okay.

“Should bloggers feel guilty if they end up paying the discounted price and keeping a valuable camera? Not in my book. I don’t really expect them to write negative things about the camera. What’s not to like about a top digital SLR from a top brand? There are too many settings?”

Joseph Jaffe of Jaffe Juice says “I have to tell you that in my humble opinion, this has been the best example of blogger outreach I have either experienced (first hand) or read about.” But then again, he has a camera so perhaps that doesn’t count. Or maybe it does because it is blogger outreach.

If we go back to the original definition of a bribe (money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust), there still seems to be some holes in the ethical argument because MWWGroup never placed any conditions on the campaign like “you must write good things about it or send it back” or “you must use it every day.”

Nope. Other than asking the bloggers to include a campaign disclosure if they write a product review, which seems to be the opposite of a bribe, I don’t see any conditions that may influence these bloggers. In fact, it almost seems to me that the threat of making them appear influenced has a greater chance of skewing their objectivity. But that requires a different term all together.

Chapel says I underestimate the true dynamics of the issue. Not really. It seems to me the true dynamics of the issue is not being discussed enough. Public relations firms are being put in an unfair position: they are ridiculed for ignoring bloggers and chastised for inviting them to review products at the same time.

Fair reviews don’t just come from publications with product purchase budgets nor do they come from bloggers with deep purses. Fair reviews come from people who are true to themselves, whether or not they are invited to the opening, asked to take a test drive, or given a loaner.

Any other position is unfair to the reviewer as it attempts to guess their motivation at best and insults their ability to be objective at worst. Any other twisted facts on this issue would force us to conclude that we are all somehow unethical for sampling a cheese square at the local grocery store.

After 15 years of straddling the fence between public relations and journalism (five of those years editing a trade publication for concierges who ask similar questions), the best measure remains with the writer’s own sense of ethics. Better advice might be to resist the urge to name call, especially my readers, as it almost always erodes the name caller's credibility.

Ergo, MWWGroup has done a fine job wading into the waters of social media. While the Nikon campaign might be improved upon, there are virtually no details that deserve mention. They may even be given kudos for the experiment, especially because they tried so hard (maybe overly so) to remain above board.

Celebrating Jericho: Season Two

Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, is all about making history. She has so many times that it's almost a crime to pick just three.

She sparked the biggest fan protest in history with the cancellation of Jericho. She received more nuts than any television executive in history. And she had the pleasure of announcing the biggest cancellation reversal in history. Not bad for a few weeks work.

Addressing the fans of Jericho at 5:08 p.m., Nina Tassler officially announced "Wow! Over the past few weeks you have put forth an impressive and probably unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime time television series. You got our attention; your emails and collective voice have been heard."

Jericho will be back mid-season next year with seven new episodes.
In the interim, CBS is working on several initiatives to help introduce the show to new audiences:

• Re-broadcasting “Jericho” on CBS (this summer)
• Streaming online episodes and clips (online)
• Releasing the first season to DVD on Sept. 25
• Continuing the story of Jericho in digital media

"On behalf of everyone at CBS, thank you for expressing your support of “Jericho” in such an extraordinary manner. Your protest was creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone. You made a difference," Tassler went on to say. But the best line of all, in our opinion, was found in the postscript of the post.

P.S. Please stop sending us nuts

Check back for the post show this weekend. Or stay on anyway. :)

Advertising Jericho: YouTube

As the Los Angeles Times and hundreds of publications scramble for confirmation that the rumors originally broken by TV Guide are true — CBS will give Jericho fans a season two in the form of an eight-episode run mid-season — we can't help but to look at some side bar social media stories, three of which are on YouTube.

Cast Campaigns. Actors Richard Speight, Bob Stephenson, and Brad Beyer took to YouTube to thank Jericho fans and prove they know how to spell "N ... U ... T ... S" while boosting the fan campaign by playing the Peanuts theme.

Fan Advertising. One fan, going by the handle "RubberPoultry," produced a Jericho Season 2 promo that jazzes up the fan base, but then reminds people that Jericho won't be back unless they do something about it.

YouTube Documentaries. While it might be a little long in the tooth at four minutes, the "Nuts!! to CBS Delivery Collection" captures some of the emotion behind the message boards. We can forgive the length, mostly because of the dubbed WWII movie segment starting at 2:54. Funny stuff.

There are dozens more, but these three are among our favorites. They represent a shift in video communication created by social media. It's the very reason public relations professionals need to brush up on some new skill sets.

Jericho fans dazzled us by filling forums, bolstering stories, signing petitions, making videos, getting press attention, shaming entertainment writers who said it could not be done, and, of course, shipping off 40,000 pounds of nuts. Sure, today it is CBS, but tomorrow it might be your company that finds itself dealing with a new brand of crisis communication.

Social media has turned passive viewers into active consumers, given cast members the ability to address fans direct, and proven that no one should underestimate a dedicated group of individuals who happen upon the least likely, but amazingly effective, message ... NUTS!

We look forward to reading the official "resurrection" announcement from CBS before providing a post-show wrap up. If Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, needs any inspiration, she can find it scripted for her back at the bottom of our May 26 post. We won't even send a bill.

Bribing Bloggers: Ragan's Grapevine

Michael Sebastian, writing for Ragan's Grapevine, resurrected Amanda Chapel's comments on camera-maker Nikon's "loaning" 50 bloggers a pricey new camera for 12 months. In Chapel's piece last week, she notes that that "most reporters, e.g. NYT, WSJ, BusinessWeek, Forbes, etc., can't even accept a free lunch anymore because of new ethics guidelines. The era of wining, dining and bribing reporters is long over."

Given this, the general theory is that companies are attempting to curry favor with "b" and "c" list bloggers, offering loans, gifts and payments for favorable reviews. The downside for a blogger is that when they accept a gift or loan, they take a departure from the world of journalism. Hmmm ... maybe.

Last December, I wrote a less than flattering piece on PayPerPost, just hours prior to a terms of service change that required bloggers to disclose that they were being paid for their reviews. Had the post been penned after the change, my take on it would have been different.

In such instances, disclosure can make all the difference (though I don't recommend turning every editorial post into an advertorial post or you'll likely lose your readers). The same can be said about the Nikon camera campaign. Any ethical breach is not in the loan of a camera, but rather in the blogger's willingness to be swayed by the loan or if the loan is conditional on a favorable review or frequency of a product mention.

It all comes down to the blogger (or reporter for that matter) asking themselves if they can remain objective despite whatever offer is on the table, Nikon camera "loan" or not. Only the blogger can answer that question. Because, in general, if we attempt to guess the ethics of others, we only demonstrate our own lapse in understanding ethics.

Journalists, reviewers and critics in particular, have always received new products and beta programs (or attended openings) so they could write editorial. The reward for remaining objective is simply a matter of preserving their own credibility as a reviewer. To do the same, bloggers only need to appreciate that credibility is their most valuable asset as well.

So while I agree with Sebastian and Chapel that skewing reviews for favors is unethical, bloggers without journalism or public relations backgrounds only need a reminder now and again that the best editorial is not for sale. Likewise, just because someone sends you something, it doesn't mean you are obligated to write about it.

In closing, I might also add that Ragan entered the social media scene in force. Ragan's Grapevine has been a great addition to communication blogging and its new social network Myragan.com is one of three social networks I think are worth checking out (I'm still wading the waters). The other two are Recruitingblogs.com and BlogCatalog.com.

I'm hoping to share why I think so sometime next week. And given the topic of this post, I might add that I wasn't paid to say that. Grin.