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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Who Created Big Bad Blogger?

Dear insansapinas,

It all started with a box of doughnuts sent to bloggers who can afford to buy one or two but the feeling that they belonged to the elite group whose clout in the blogosphere was sealed by those freebies made them write about the doughnut which is an enemah of a diabetic like me. Arghh.
Then came media events where bloggers were treated with galore of food in exchange of a blog entry for the event. 
Rewind: In my past life as a Ca t, I wrote this article:
Here is an excerpt: 
This is in relation to the competition in the “racket” of inviting bloggers in media events.
So you think that the bloggers-attendees only get free food which some self-proclaimed media event organizers bring home by “truck” leaving other people who attended the events hungry?
Some get paid. Some denied they get a single cent but they won’t tell you that they get other compensation in the form of credentials to attend media gathering. Some get priorities to freebies. What is amusing is that these critics of poverty bloggers were observed to bring members of the family to these events so they can get more freebies. If they can only convince the sponsors that their dogs are also bloggers, they could have done it. Patay gutom din?
And I thought the freebies are barya-barya. I was Wrong.
According to my source, when there are only a few bloggers who go to event, the gift check amounts as much as 5,000 per blogger. O diva, pag kasama mo ang katulong mo na inintroduce mong blogger din, may 10,000 ka. If you attended two in a month, that is 20,000.
The corporations sponsoring events want more bloggers. The marketing people of the corporations think that even without them blogging after the event, they can promote the product by word of mouth.

So the more bloggers there are, the better.

But the anti-poverty and media events groupies did not want this to happen. Their freebies are reduced and they find themselves in the company of what they call PATAY GUTOM BLOGGERS.
I am reminded of some partygoers from hell who cart the extra food home even other attendees are still hungry.
We, bloggers in the United States do not know about this “racket”. And I personally do not care. Sa hirap ng buhay, whatever freebies that people get should be appreciated for others. But to call them PATAY GUTOM, that is something else and blogging it in the guise of advise from a marketing expert is I found a little unethical.
I do not know elitist bloggers are fond of critizing bloggers on their economic status.
I admit, even without forensic evidence, that I say something about the size of the brain of my adversaries instead of calling them bobo but not patay gutom. Iba yon. Mine is a challenge for reasoning ability; the latter was looking down on people who are not a level of the economic status of the labeler.

Will someone educate me why we still have bigots among us?
After the media events, more freebies were received by some high profile bloggers. They were dined, wined and given free trips, again for endorsements. Positive of course because, how can they bite the hands that feed them? Same faces appeared in the photoops. They were proud of it. I did not care as long as they will put a disclaimer that it was a sponsored trip,  free hotel voucher and free meals.


Now comes the business-minded PR firm. Why not make money from out of these practices which to some credible food blogger such as MarketManila considered a violation of  ethics in journalism and food journalism ? 


He wrote: 
Basically, what these policies espouse is that journalists, including food writers, SHOULD NOT ACCEPT FREEBIES. 


To the PR firm, this was a business opportunity- an extortion business.
What's new? There were one-man PR firms who made thousands last Election by extolling virtues of candidates who engaged their services. by blogging passionately about them using their multiple websites.
Kulang na lang lagyan nila ng pakpak at ng halo ang mga candidates para manalo. Aawayin ka pa pagnagsalungat ka.


Can you guess now who created this monster Big Bad Blogger. Ang nakahula may price na libreng meal. My treat. Sagot ninyo ang pamasahe dito sa States. ahahahaha


Who said there is no money in blogging? You've been under the rock for years, dahleengs.


Pinaysaamerika

11 comments:

Resty Odon said...

cathy, sino ba yang BBB na yaan? could you email me who?

MSM is hardly ever the qualified critic of bloggers din because of sponsored trips, freebies, GCs, gifts, ads, etc. alam ko ang bawal lang tanggapin cash gifts

cathy said...

hindi ko rin kilala resty. walang problem yong mga sponsored trips basta idisclose lang nila. yong iba naman kasi feeling jetsetter sila at pleasure traveler.

pero yong cash gifts, practice yata yan and my source would not lie.

cathy said...

huwag kang mag-alala, e-mail kita pag nahuli ni Sherlock Holmes. ^^

Resty Odon said...

how come i never get invited to those cashtravaganza???? hhahaha

Resty Odon said...

ok i just read your post in its entirety. so you are saying MSM created BBB out of insecurity! hmmmm interesting theory. makes sense! di ko nakita yun ah. bright ka talaga.

cathy said...

"how come i never get invited to those cashtravaganza???? hhahaha"

Because you do not belong to the clique. Click click click

hahahaha

cathy said...

My theory is that, BBB exists so is the PR firm.

As I have said, the PR firm must have been inspired by greed to make the food blogging more lucrative business.

Promotion is one of the five Ps in Marketing. It is legitimate.

What is evil is the extortion element to make the target clients pay exhorbitant monthly retainer fee.

Resty Odon said...

as in clique clique clique? hahahaha

Resty Odon said...

in vice ganda terms, nakakalowkah itoh

Arvin U. de la Peña said...

Kung sino man ang big bad blogger na iyan ay good luck sa layunin mo sa pag blog......huwag ka padadala sa ibang tao..ipagpatuloy mo anuman ang nais mo..iyon ay dahil may freedom ang expression tayo..

Barb said...

I'm a food,health,fitness blogger & I see nothing wrong with getting free perks. I still give my own personal honest opinion about everything whether I paid for it or someone else paid for it. I am always on the lookout for more brands/pr/companies to work with my blog.