View all news articles >>

ADWEEK Eastern Edition - October 2, 2000
© 2000 Adweek and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

Web Marketing Firm Lets Loose on PR Firms

In the game of life, public relations professionals just took another hit. This bashing, though, comes not from the poison pen of the technology press, but from a Web site modeled after the carnival game "Whack-A-Mole."

"Whack-A-Flack," a comical offering from one-to-one Web marketers e-tractions, invites journalists and tech marketers to happily "whack" PR firms with paper airplanes. Over a six-week period, more than 18,000 visitors took aim at the "clueless," "arrogant" "butt-kissers" in PR.

Receiving nasty whacks were the big dogs such as Brodeur, Edelman, Alexander Ogilvy, Hill & Knowlton and Burson-Marsteller. "I think the firms were chosen based on name recognition," says Burson managing director Peter Himler, who describes the site as a bit of a "cliche."

None of the 20-odd firms emerged unscathed, although those in the "winners" column included PAN Communications, Lois Paul & Partners, Middle-berg Communications and Sterling Hager. Even there, it seems a small victory. "You can't take it too seriously," says PAN director Jackie Sagl. "It's all in fun."

While it may seem a little mean, the game was created to generate buzz about e-tractions and the power of viral marketing. "Throwing paper airplanes at each other is not damaging or threatening," says company CEO Michael Gauthier. "A little release isn't a bad thing."