WSJ:

"In a campaign set to start Thursday, the U.S. arm of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd. will take "guerrilla" marketing to a new level. Its goal: to get consumers to pay attention to the new T68i, a mobile phone that can double as a digital camera.

In one initiative, dubbed Fake Tourist, 60 trained actors and actresses will haunt tourist attractions such as the Empire State Building in New York and the Space Needle in Seattle. Working in teams of two or three and behaving as if they were actual tourists, the actors and actresses will ask unsuspecting passersby to take their pictures."

Just to let you know that Sony Ericsson are pathetic cheaters. Ok, you got my attention, now I've got another product marked on my unwish list.

There's a whole generation of marketers and advertisers who have not the smallest notion of ethics whatsoever. Here's one example of astroturfing on demand: "in a changing world where it’s more difficult than ever to connect with today’s consumers, brand phenomena - or marketplace “buzz” - can be strategically engineered." It's more difficult than ever to connect with consumers because, for all the dumb ads you've been trying to drown us with, we're still not brainless couch potatoes, and we shielded ourselves from your blather, while you generated the noise that make it difficult to connect. Go ahead, keep wasting money on pseudo marketing[*], then release a profit warning.

[*] Marketing is by definition all about interaction with the marketplace. These "campaigns" are companies talking with themselves because they're afraid of their customers. Besides, it's too much work. And we know better. You mean, interaction with actual unwashed consumers? And you'd have to market products that we really use and like?

08/11/02 update: Heartfelt Advice, Hefty Fees. The new advertising and PR tagline seems to be "Actively destroying the concept of trust, anytime, anywhere." And it's more obvious than ever than you don't want your news and entertainment to come from ad-supported channels.

10/20/05 update: Commercial Alert Targets P&G, Wants Buzz Marketing Probe.