Hell hath no fury like a gossip blogger spammed

You might want to think twice before you leave that comment about free ringtones on perezhilton.com. Gossip bloggers aren't taking spam lightly.

In the latest development in the public relations world, "grassroots marketing" means posing as an uneducated tween and blasting horribly misspelled comments on various gossip blogs. I do not envy those in internship positions at the moment who are having to come up with new and fun ways to spell "freaking" (freakn) and "genius" (genies) or analyzing the extent to which they should forget all grammar rules learned in college to moonlight as overly excitable evangelist fans.

It seems E!'s new Ashton Kutcher show, "Pop Fiction," has been spamming gossip blogs via the Cashmere Agency. Cashmere cites promotional tactics with quantifiable results. Well, they sure got E! some results at Celebitchy. The gossip blog analyzed IP addresses to find out multiple comments parading as those made by fans were posted by Cashmere Agency on behalf of several E! programs...and even Snoop Dogg.

One of the offending comments left on Celebitchy made by "gena":

“Hahaha!! It was all a prank on the paparazzi!! Its that new show on E! Pop Fiction. Its freakn awsome. The celebrities play pranks on the pap. What a genies idea. Paris Hiltons one was great all the paparazzi bit right into it. Shes not religious come on people. I love this show. Heres the link you wanted. Tell me what you think.”

Celebitchy wrote in an email to Cashmere Agency that more than 20 spam comments a day were attributed to their IP address. I don't blame them for their "celebitchiness" toward the agency - by the same token, can you imagine having to sift through 20 junk emails per day from the very same email address? Maybe some of the gossip blog fury has to do with the fact that Ashton's show aims to beat paparazzi and celebrity blogs at their own game - even though the show's jig is officially up.

As of 3/22, no one had returned a call to the blog or responded via e-mail. Yikes! There's a nice USAToday piece on "Pop Fiction," but two unflattering Jossip pieces are just as visible in a Google News search. Don't discount the bloggers.

Another Shelter Book Bites the Dust

I hate when I hear about a magazine folding.

It's always so sudden and without much reason but the ever-looming "ad sales" issue. Who cares about the bottom line, I say! (coming from a girl who took the most elementary math classes possible.) Well, I learned today in a staff meeting that House & Garden has bit the dust. I seriously love shelter mags, but they really are in a volatile state these days. Guess they won't be needing this special offer anymore, hmm.

Here's an interesting quote from MindShare in The New York Times piece...

“The category as a whole is so crowded,” said Kelly Foster, senior partner and print director at MindShare North America, a media planning and buying agency that is part of the WPP Group, adding that the magazines “get in each other’s way.”

The article also says House & Garden is one of the country's oldest magazines, as it was founded in 1901. In December, H&G will close its doors and eliminate 80 jobs.

Bum out. I was just really getting on the band wagon after their gorgeous November issue with Gwyneth Paltrow. And H&G really does have such great blogs.

I certainly hope this does not affect Design*Sponge, as so many others do.

Sigh.