Home • About • Spank My Monkey: The Full Story • Media • Spank My Monkey Photo • PowerTV • Tenneco • Anti-Christ of the Hot Rod World Video • Richard Rawlings • Corky Coker • David Coker • SEMA • The Learning Channel • The Bullrun • Dodgy Monkey Media • Is that Fake Rust? • It Looks Like... • Sponsors • Comic Gallery • The SpankMaker • Parody and the Law • Legal Action • How You Can Help Tenneco Sponsors Stealth Forum MarketersEarlier this year, a Hotrodders.com investigation uncovered a widespread stealth marketing campaign spanning more than 100 automotive websites. The stealth promotion was first uncovered in this discussion on the Hotrodders.com forums, and was later featured in this article on SpankMyMarketer.comA user posting as "powermelissa" was found to have copy-pasted identical posts across numerous hot rod and sport compact forums. First, "powermelissa" introduced herself as a "big-time car girl". Then, she began to subtly promote various automotive companies. Investigation proved that "powermelissa" was in fact a stealth marketer working for a stealth marketing and video production company called PowerTV. PowerTV was being paid to spam forums in an effort to promote certain automotive companies, a practice that had been going on for years. On many forums, the Terms of Service prohibit such postings, which clearly appears to make the stealth marketing campaigns not only unethical, but also illegal. PowerTV's clients include some of the largest companies in the automotive industry: General Motors, Holley, and Comp Cams. One of PowerTV's more prominent clients is Tenneco, a $4.7 billion company that owns many aftermarket car parts brands, including Rancho, Dynomax, Walker, and Monroe. 
To make parody comics of Tenneco's Board of Directors, check out The SpankMaker. In an effort to peacefully resolve the situation, SpankMyMarketer.com privately approached Tenneco. A Tale of Three Lawyers First, SpankMyMarketer.com emailed Tenneco's entire senior management team. The email included a special tracking link, which was clicked on many times, from several different Tenneco computers. Nevertheless, Tenneco refused to reply. After a week of being ignored, SpankMyMarketer.com emailed Tenneco's executives again. This time, Tenneco replied through David Wardell, their General Counsel. The General Counsel is the chief lawyer in a corporation, whose responsibilities include providing legal advice to a corporation's senior executives. Mr. Wardell replied with the below email:
After describing their intent to respond "fully and fairly", Tenneco passed the issue off to their internal legal department. Then, a second Tenneco lawyer, Anne Frueh, attempted to handle the situation. Ms. Frueh, clearly unfamiliar with the Internet, said that Tenneco had instructed PowerTV to "remove" their stealth postings. Despite Tenneco's misunderstanding, most web users know that you can't just "remove" old forum posts whenever you like, especially in an attempt to cover up your tracks. Here's Ms. Frueh's response:
After notifying Ms. Frueh of the impossibility of a user simply "removing" offending posts, she ignored SpankMyMarketer.com. Further communication resulted in the following response, in which Ms. Frueh indicated that further dialogue is "unwarranted".
To make parody comics of Tenneco's Board of Directors, check out The SpankMaker. After Ms. Frueh's gaffe, SpankMyMarketer.com emailed Tenneco's senior executives again. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Tenneco sought the assistance of an external law firm specializing in Internet law, Winston & Strawn, LLP. 
To make parody comics of Tenneco's Board of Directors, check out The SpankMaker. Tenneco's third lawyer to handle this situation was Brian Fergemann, a Winston & Strawn lawyer specializing in advertising, marketing, and Internet law. After hiring a web-savvy lawyer, Tenneco's attitude changed very quickly. 
To make parody comics of Tenneco's Board of Directors, check out The SpankMaker. After consulting with Mr. Fergemann, Tenneco agreed to "direct" the stealth marketing firm to alter their practices. Here's Tenneco's response through their third lawyer:
To make parody comics of Tenneco's Board of Directors, check out The SpankMaker. Tenneco refused to stop funding the promotions. 
To make parody comics of Tenneco's Board of Directors, check out The SpankMaker. |
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