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| North Face Apologizes for Adding Its Own Photos to Wikipedia to Promote Its Brand | North Face Apologizes for Adding Its Own Photos to Wikipedia to Promote Its Brand |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Every company dreams of free advertising, and the North Face seemed to have found a clever way to get it. | Every company dreams of free advertising, and the North Face seemed to have found a clever way to get it. |
| All it had to do was edit Wikipedia. | All it had to do was edit Wikipedia. |
| In a video ad, the North Face described how it took photos of its clothing and equipment at famous outdoor destinations and uploaded the pictures to the Wikipedia pages for those locations. The strategy relied on a central principle of Wikipedia — communal editing — to push the brand into the top of Google image results, according to the video. | |
| “We hacked the results to reach one of the most difficult places: the top of the world’s largest search engine,” the North Face said in the video, which paired footage of a climber reaching a mountain top with the company’s “Top of Images” campaign. The video touted the campaign as innovative (“We did what no one has done before”) and free (the video claimed that the company collaborated with Wikipedia and paid “absolutely nothing”). | |
| But the campaign, which was carried out by the company’s team in Brazil and reported by Ad Age, a marketing and media news site, quickly backfired this week. | But the campaign, which was carried out by the company’s team in Brazil and reported by Ad Age, a marketing and media news site, quickly backfired this week. |
| On Wednesday, the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia, denied collaborating on the project and blasted the North Face and its advertising partner, Leo Burnett Tailor Made, for “unethically” manipulating the site. On social media, fans of Wikipedia were calling on the retailer to make a donation to the nonprofit to make up for its mistake. And by Wednesday night, the North Face had publicly offered an apology. | |
| “We believe deeply in @Wikipedia’s mission and apologize for engaging in activity inconsistent with those principles,” the North Face said on Twitter. “Effective immediately, we have ended the campaign and moving forward, we’ll commit to ensuring that our teams and vendors are better trained on the site policies.” | |
| In a statement Thursday, a spokeswoman for the North Face, which is based in Alameda, Calif., said the video was produced by Leo Burnett Tailor Made, a division of the global advertising firm Leo Burnett, and approved by a team from the North Face in Brazil. She said the team in Brazil operated as an independent “distributor,” with the exclusive rights to sell and market the company’s products in the region, and did not pay Leo Burnett for the campaign or the video. | |
| On Thursday, Leo Burnett Tailor Made in Brazil said it had taken a unique approach, but had since learned that it “worked counter” to Wikipedia’s community guidelines. | On Thursday, Leo Burnett Tailor Made in Brazil said it had taken a unique approach, but had since learned that it “worked counter” to Wikipedia’s community guidelines. |
| “We’re always looking for creative ways to meet consumers where they are,” the agency said in a statement, adding that it had accepted an invitation from Wikipedia to learn more about the site and its goals. | “We’re always looking for creative ways to meet consumers where they are,” the agency said in a statement, adding that it had accepted an invitation from Wikipedia to learn more about the site and its goals. |
| Google, where the video claims the branded images were prominently placed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. | Google, where the video claims the branded images were prominently placed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. |
| The controversy is the latest example to raise questions about how information infiltrates the digital space, with the potential to influence the public’s perception of companies, public figures and events. The risks include consuming disinformation, like the viral video last week that altered Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech, and being influenced by commercial advertising, including online ads that are targeted specifically for you. | The controversy is the latest example to raise questions about how information infiltrates the digital space, with the potential to influence the public’s perception of companies, public figures and events. The risks include consuming disinformation, like the viral video last week that altered Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech, and being influenced by commercial advertising, including online ads that are targeted specifically for you. |
| In its video describing the “Top of Images” campaign, the North Face claimed it replaced images on Wikipedia pages for various locations, like Guarita State Park in Brazil and the Storr, a rocky hill on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The new photos featured the company’s products, such as a backpack, hiking gear and camping tents. | |
| In its statement, the Wikimedia Foundation emphasized its goal of presenting neutral information. It said volunteers had removed or cropped out the branded images. | In its statement, the Wikimedia Foundation emphasized its goal of presenting neutral information. It said volunteers had removed or cropped out the branded images. |
| “When The North Face exploits the trust you have in Wikipedia to sell you more clothes, you should be angry,” the statement said. “Adding content that is solely for commercial promotion goes directly against the policies, purpose and mission of Wikipedia to provide neutral, fact-based knowledge to the world.” | “When The North Face exploits the trust you have in Wikipedia to sell you more clothes, you should be angry,” the statement said. “Adding content that is solely for commercial promotion goes directly against the policies, purpose and mission of Wikipedia to provide neutral, fact-based knowledge to the world.” |
| Americus Reed, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania, called the advertising strategy “wildly misguided.” And while some online speculated that the campaign may have been designed to go viral the way it did, he rejected the idea that any publicity is good publicity. | Americus Reed, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania, called the advertising strategy “wildly misguided.” And while some online speculated that the campaign may have been designed to go viral the way it did, he rejected the idea that any publicity is good publicity. |
| “They completely, absolutely, egregiously violated just about every principle you can think about with respect to trying to maintain consumer trust,” he said. | “They completely, absolutely, egregiously violated just about every principle you can think about with respect to trying to maintain consumer trust,” he said. |
| While companies are increasingly trying to be creative to reach consumers, he said, the North Face missed the mark because it focused on promoting its brand, instead of promoting its mission. | |
| “It’s the difference between chasing a transaction versus trying to create a conversation,” Mr. Reed said. | “It’s the difference between chasing a transaction versus trying to create a conversation,” Mr. Reed said. |
| In a statement to Ad Age, Fabricio Luzzi, the chief executive of the North Face Brazil, said: “Our mission is to expand our frontiers so that our consumers can overcome their limits. With the ‘Top of Images’ project, we achieved our positioning and placed our products in a fully contextualized manner as items that go hand in hand with these destinations.” | In a statement to Ad Age, Fabricio Luzzi, the chief executive of the North Face Brazil, said: “Our mission is to expand our frontiers so that our consumers can overcome their limits. With the ‘Top of Images’ project, we achieved our positioning and placed our products in a fully contextualized manner as items that go hand in hand with these destinations.” |
| But, in its statement, Wikipedia likened the campaign to defacing public property: “They have risked your trust in our mission for a short-lived marketing stunt.” | But, in its statement, Wikipedia likened the campaign to defacing public property: “They have risked your trust in our mission for a short-lived marketing stunt.” |