kullin – Page 38 – Media Culpa

Fake Zlatan on Twitter continues to fool Italian media

Seriously Italy, get with the Twitter programme. Once again an Italian newspaper has been fooled by a prankster, pretending to be AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Twitter. This time it is the Naples based daily Il Mattino that quotes the Twitter account “@therealZlatan11” in an article with the headline “The latest provocation by Ibra. Twitter: Aronica, nobody knows”.

Il Mattino, calls Ibra “cool and cocky”. Not entirely convinced, but suspecting this is the real Ibra, the paper says that he posted the following tweets after the Monday night game between Napoli and AC Milan (about Napoli defender Salvatore Aronica):

But really, it doesn’t take a genius to determine that this is as fake as a Twitter account gets. The English is lousy and way too provocative even for a person with Zlatan’s record of getting in trouble. And a simple Google search would reveal several blog posts pointing out the blinding obvious fact that Zlatan doesn’t have a Twitter account. Previous cases with fake quotes include AP and Sky Italia.

Fact checking, better than guessing?

German companies block access to social networks

Two weeks ago, I blogged about how German car maker Porsche was blocking employees’ access to social networks such as Facebook and Xing for fears of industrial espionage. Yesterday, German weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported that more and more German companies are blocking social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

“For the majority of our employees many external social media sites are not accessible at work for security reasons,” a spokesperson for Commerzbank said.

Other companies such as Volkswagen, E.On and HeidelbergCement have banned Facebook and Twitter at work for some or most employees. While security reasons may be the most cited argument to block access to social networks, other reasons include productivity loss and increased strain on internal networks as employees download or stream large video files at work.

Footnote: The official Volkswagen page on Facebook has 484,000 fans.

Mino Raiola: Zlatan does not have a profile on Twitter

Once again, a leading news outlet has quoted a fake Twitter account, thinking it belongs to the Swedish football striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. This time it was the Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport that quoted Ibra, saying he had tweeted about a possible injury but that he calmed fans that he was ok.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s agent, Mino Raiola, has categorically denied that his client has an account on Twitter and Milannews.it says that Raiola once again had denied such an account exists.

“Zlatan has no profile on Twitter and, therefore, it may not have been him writing those things,” Raiola supposedly told Sky Sports. (my translation)

The account that had been quoted by Gazzetta dello Sport is @therealZlatan11, a poorly executed prank with clunky English and even some early quotes in Swedish, obviously translated with Google Translate. One tweet has translated the word “calcio” into “kalcium”, which is Swedish for calcium. In another tweet, fake Zlatan says that “the boat will win the Champions League” (“båten kommer att bli mästare i Champions League”).

Previous mistakes in the fake Zlatan category include Sky Italia and AP.

Hat tip to Expressen.

Porsche blocks employee access to social networks

Porsche AG is blocking employees’ access to social networks such as Facebook and Xing, according to an article in Automotive News. The reason is to shield the sports-car maker from industrial espionage.

“Porsche is concerned that foreign intelligence services may be spying on workers posting “confidential” information on Facebook and other Web-based services, exposing the automaker to unwanted observation”, said Dirk Erat, a Porsche spokesman.

“These services imply a certain threat potential,” Erat said. Barring access at workstations to sites including EBay Inc. reflects “principal company policy,” he said.

I think this is wrong on so many levels. Employees that want to access Facebook at work, will circumvent such decisions by using their private smartphones and then the employer has even less control over what information is being shared. And engaged employees are great brand ambassadors that often share positive messages via social media to their networks. If you block them from doing that, they will not only be less inclined to feel good about their jobs, but they will also not be able to support the marketing of the brand.

Then there is the issue of Porsche’s own presence on Facebook. The company has more than 800,000 fans on its fanpage. It’s kind of contradictory to use a social platform to communicate with engaged consumers and then block your own staff from the same site. And as you would expect, negative comments are already starting to appear on the fanpage.

Read stopblocking.org for more information about organizations that block access to social media.

PS. One day I will own a Porsche. One day…

Footnote:
Image credit: kevbo1983 on Flickr.

Did Coke not learn anything from the Pepsi “before you score” fiasco?

A year ago, Pepsi launched an iPhone app promoting its AMP energy drink. The app, called “AMP Up Before You Score,” was supposed to help young guys pick up women. Pepsi were immediately criticized for being sexist and politically incorrect, and not long after launch the company backed down and apologized on Twitter.

Maybe I’m just too old, or too sensitive, but there is a risk that Coca-Cola are about to fall in the same trap. The company has a new campaign site out promoting Coke Zero. On the site, which is clearly aimed at men, you can play a game in which you simultaneously date three scantily clad women and for example make them dance on the screen. There’s nothing terribly upsetting about the site, it’s just that it feels so old and tired. Had they come up with a game in which you should try to make half dressed men dance around, it would have been equally stupid, but at least to some extent something new.

“Being the strategic man that you are, you set up 3 dates, with 3 very different women all in the same building. You will have to do your best to keep these women happy with the help of Coca-Cola Zero. Watch out for the ladies man, he will try to steal your girl. Good Luck.”

Then there is the iPhone application The Cleaner which is supposed to help you from getting in trouble in case your girlfriend, your boss or your friends would ever try to take a sneak peek into your cell phone.

Once you open the app, you select who you want to stop snooping, your boss, girlfriend or friends.

Then, when you leave your phone unattended, you launch the app and it displays a fake menu with pre-selected “apps”, which includes fake text messages, a fake agenda and fake photos, all with the purpose of potraying the user as the perfect boyfriend, friend or employee.

Below are some examples of “girlfriend safe” text messages.

And a calendar filled with positive items.

The photo library mainly includes photos of flowers, but you can’t open any of them.

The idea is kind of fun but the execution is rather poor. My four-year old knows how to scroll photos on the iPhone and no-one would really buy that any of this is for real. I know, I know, it’s just for laughs, but somehow I expected a better finish in an app from one of the largest brands in the world.

Poor branding
All in all, I’m not upset, I’m not offended, and I do realize you need to come up with cool and fun ideas to get attention from young consumers. But I think that this is poor branding by Coke Zero. The creative idea could have been executed with a more modern view on gender roles than what this site does.