UKC

I am not sure it's even right to give these **** the recognition they don't even deserve by posting this

It seems the bright lads at TNF and Leo Burnett thought it would be a good idea to vandalise Wikipedia with their brand advertisements, disguised as cover photos of popular outdoor destinations incl. Cuillin. I wonder what they were snorting. Nothing is controversial in the world of advertising, again. What's next, killing baby seals and issuing an apology to get your brand out there? All that talk about social responsibility, ha ha... What's worse, it will be talked about, giving them just what they wanted

https://www.dpreview.com/news/2219365437/the-north-face-flooded-wikipedia-w...

I only ever bought one pair of city shoes from them which promptly disintegrated after few months of use, so I wouldn't give them any more money even without that "campaign", but I am still angry at that. How can we trust them on any of their other promises, like social responsibility in their manufacturing, if they blatantly abuse public trust like that?

That's pretty neat.

But, appalling judgement by TNF... in allowing Burnett to go ahead.

My guess:

Wiki will get reverted double quick so very few views will happen.

TNF will catch some serious negative fallout from outdoor enthusiasts.

Leo Burnett will be fine because the public (in general) won't blame them/have heard of them/use them but future clients will recognise that they're clever even though they did it by throwing TNF under a bus.  Might even benefit them.

They make outdoor gear now do they? 

The worst bit seems to be their smearing of the Wikipedia Foundation, with the lie about 'collaboration'.

Not sure why there isn't a shitstorm on TNF's twitter.  I'm not a user of tw*tter, or I'd start one

Edit: introduced profanity!

This. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't give a shit if someone is wearing a jacket in a photo of a place on Wikipedia and it happens to be placed there by the brand. As adverts go, it's in the unobtrusive category, along with good product placement in tv/films etc.

Exactly. I guess there is a lot of back patting and bonuses around at Leo Burnett right now They might even get an ad award out of it...

Neat it might be, but right? To me, it's more (exaggerating a bit) akin to spraying your brand name (even with water soluble paint, so "no damage done, right?") in 2m letters on a crag base, then telling the climbing public "we just did it to show how easy subversive advertising is and how it can ruin the public trust, so we are the good guys".

Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but the words "social responsibility" proudly splayed on TNF's website mean something a bit different to me.

They basically did what any wiki vandal or troll does, and broke every wikipedia user agreement. It's the principles.

I never understood why their products sell well.

I brought one pair of shorts about 10 years ago which promptly fell apart within a week.

I'd never give them my money after that incident.

N = 1, 10 years ago. Proven.

You're exaggerating a lot. It's a picture. On a website. If you use the internet and don't expect to be advertised at, your an idiot. Visual pollution in the real world is in no way comparable.

Without the name calling, please. I was exaggerating, even clearly mentioned it.

 It's still unethical practice, though. How would you like advertisements veiled as inpartial reviews on UKC? Both the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK and the EU Directive on unfair commercial practices have something to say about the matter of covert advertising... That some websites do it anyway doesn't give them an excuse to do the same. In an outdoor industry that tries to cope (for better or worse) with such issues like sustainability and good social practice.

Here is some more background from NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/business/north-face-wikipedia-leo-burnet...

Could be just one of those (often controversial, for the sake of promoting the agency) on spec campaigns that the Brazil division of TNF approved afterwards ("What a great idea, let's do this!" in the boardroom), or just subsequent damage control. Still, a case of bad judgement, in my opinion.

Um...

Apparently Dragon Cams can only be used at Nesscliffe

Remember when they made that remote hut in to a pop up store and painted it in their colours?

Seems it's easier to seek forgiveness than ask permission..

Somebody's busy with the delete button...?

Bring out the stocks, someone chanced their arm putting a few cleverly crafted photos on a website. 

There is an awful lot more to be outraged over before getting down to No. 5978 photos on wiki. 

Absolutely, there are still people weeing outside you know..