Brandjacking

• Coca-Cola - in 2013, a commercial, "The Bitter Taste of Sugar", for Oxfam (Oxfam Novib Netherlands) parodied a Coca-Cola Zero commercial, drawing attention to its unsustainable business practices.[http://www.oxfamnovib.nl/De-bittere-nasmaak-van-suiker.html De bittere nasmaak van suiker] Accessed: 7 April 2014.
• Starbucks - in 2006, a YouTube-hosted video presented a spoof advert for a Starbucks Frappuccino underlining the contrast between consumption and poverty.
• Nestle - in March 2010, Greenpeace campaigners used a YouTube video that parodied Nestlé's KitKat 'Take a Break' advertising, to draw attention to the multinational's use of palm oil from unsustainable operations in Indonesia and the consequent impact on Orangutan habitats.Dunlevy, Gabrielle (18 March 2010), Gory Greenpeace KitKat video goes viral, The Daily Telegraph - http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gory-greenpeace-kitkat-video-goes-viral/story-e6freuy9-1225842479332 Protesters outside Nestlé's UK head office in Croydon carried signs with the words 'Give me a break' and 'Killer' printed in the distinctive red and white Gill Sans.Nestlé faces KitKat boycott over links to 'palm oil killing orangutans' claim (18 March 2010), Metro - http://www.metro.co.uk/news/818000-nestle-faces-kitkat-boycott-over-links-to-palm-oil-killing-orangutans-claim
• ExxonMobil - in 2008, a Twitter account (@ExxonMobilCorp) was set up purporting to be the views of an official spokesperson for the oil company, only for it later to be exposed as fake.Fowler, Tom (2008), Exxon Mobil says it's not behind 'its' Twitter account, Houston Chronicle - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5920513.html
• Also on Twitter, @BPglobalPR is not an official voice for BP, but a satirical account that has grown in popularity during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, attracting more followers than the official BP Twitter account.BP’s Global PR vs. BPGlobalPR (2010) Newsweek - http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/04/bp-s-global-pr-vs-bpglobalpr.html
• Politicians - fake Facebook pages were created for US President Barack ObamaTapper, Jake (2008), Barack Obama's Fake Facebook Page (Courtesy of the RNC), ABC News - http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/barack-obamas-f.html and US Republican governor Sarah PalinSarah Palin's Facebook Alter-Ego Gets Found Out (29 August 2009) Wall Street Journal - https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/08/13/sarah-palins-facebook-alter-ego-gets-found-out/ (among other politicians). Major corporations have also been the subject of brandjack-based protests on Facebook.
• Fake blogs - may be considered a form of brandjacking if created by a critic or opponent of the person or brand supposed to be behind the blog.
• Affiliate brand bidding - This is a tactic used by some affiliate marketers. Some consider such tactics unethical or Black Hat. The method is to bid on keywords related to the marketer's site / product, but to do so seemingly as a competitor.Weiman, Lori (June 23, 2010), Watch Out For These Unsavory Affiliate Tactics, Search Engine Land - http://searchengineland.com/watch-out-for-these-unsavory-affiliate-tactics-44692{{Citation| last1 = Rosso| first1 = Mark| last2 = Jansen| first2 = Bernard (Jim)| title = Brand Names as Keywords in Sponsored Search Advertising| url = http://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol27/iss1/6| journal = Communications of the Association for Information Systems| volume = 27| issue = 1| pages= 81–98| date = August 2010 | doi = 10.17705/1CAIS.02706| doi-access = free}}
• Colleges and universities - In 2008, college guidebook company College Prowler created hundreds of Facebook groups purporting to consist of actual incoming first-year students of various universities in order to surreptitiously gather their personal data and promote the business.[http://chronicle.com/article/Company-Created/42157/ Company Created Official-Looking 'Class of 2013' Facebook Groups for Hundreds of Colleges] - [http://chronicle.com Chronicle of Higher Education]
• In June 2011, Greenpeace activists launched a campaign against Mattel's use of a packaging supplier, APP, said to be desecrating Indonesian rainforests, using images of Mattel dolls Barbie and Ken.{{cite news|last1=Whitcomb|first1=Dan|title="Ken" doll protesters arrested at Mattel headquarters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mattel-protest-idUSTRE75667S20110607|accessdate=23 February 2015|work=Reuters|date=7 June 2011|archive-date=23 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223175855/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-mattel-protest-idUSTRE75667S20110607|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Waltzer|first1=Michael|title=Greenpeace Breaks Up Barbie and Ken to Save the Rainforest|url=http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/Greenpeace-Mattel-Activism.aspx|accessdate=23 February 2015|work=Brandchannel|date=10 June 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224180744/http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/Greenpeace-Mattel-Activism.aspx|archivedate=24 February 2015}} A Greenpeace video showed Ken dumping Barbie ("I don't date girls who are into deforestation"), the group created a mock Twitter feud and a stunt involving Barbie in a pink bulldozer, and unfurled a banner on the wall of Mattel’s Los Angeles headquarters;Langley (2014), pp.183-185 some 500,000 people sent protest emails to Mattel. In October 2011, Mattel announced a global policy to keep rainforest destruction out of its supply chains.{{cite news|title=Success. Mattel and Barbie stop toying with the rainforest|url=http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/latestnews/tabid/62/entryid/810/success-mattel-and-barbie-stop-toying-with-the-rainforest.aspx|accessdate=23 February 2015|work=Ethical Consumer|date=17 October 2011}} Brandjack author Quentin Langley praised Greenpeace for its integration of online (YouTube, Twitter) and offline (stunts, etc.).Langley (2014), p.185
• In a 2023 action by the Barbie Liberation Organization, actress Daryl Hannah, posing as a spokesperson for Mattel introduced the collection of biodegradable dolls and announced in a short video{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASH_2DsdJUA&list=PLRL7rnahCMV1TIgfFv_Y_EKOFGuV4j8jg&index=1|title=Plastic Free with Daryl Hannah|date=August 1, 2023|via=YouTube}} that the company would stop using plastic by 2030.{{cite news |last1=Albeck-Ripka |first1=Livia |title=Barbie Hoax Targets Mattel and Fools Some News Outlets |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/business/media/barbie-hoax-plastic-mattel-daryl-hannah.html |date=Aug 1, 2023}} This was one of several videos{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRL7rnahCMV1TIgfFv_Y_EKOFGuV4j8jg|title=EcoWarrior Barbie Hoax|website=YouTube}} produced by Yellow Dot Studios{{Cite web|url=https://yellowdotstudios.com/|title=Yellow Dot Studios ||date=September 16, 2024|website=Yellow Dot Studios}} as part of the BLO's campaign to leverage the publicity surrounding the launch of the Barbie film to raise concerns about the pervasive use of plastics.{{Cite news |date=2023-08-02 |title=A new "EcoWarrior" Barbie, supposedly from Mattel, drew headlines. It was a hoax. - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/barbie-ecowarrior-hoax-mattel/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |language=en-US}} Tying in with the satirical campaign is a hoax website bearing heavy resemblance to the real Mattel corporate site, where they issued a fake press release for the fictitious biodegradable Barbie line.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-03 |title=Mattel Denies Claim That All Barbies Will Be Compostable |url=https://futurism.com/the-byte/mattel-denies-claim-barbies-compostable |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=Futurism}}

Brandjacking avoidance may include:

• Pre-emptive registration of brand names and sub-brands as screen names on social media sites.
• Staying vigilant{{cite web

| last = Frederick

| first = Felman

| title = The Cure for Social Media Brandjacking

| publisher = E-Commerce News

| date = 2009-05-04

| url = http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/66969.html?wlc=1268859644

| accessdate = 2010-03-17 }}

• Use of social media and general media monitoring tools to seek evidence of infringement
• Legal action against those seen as responsible for the infringement.

However, action against the brandjackers and their supporters can actually draw attention to the problem (the Streisand effect). For example, following Greenpeace's KitKat campaign, Nestlé had the video removed from YouTube, but Greenpeace quickly re-posted it to video-sharing site Vimeo.com and highlighted the attempted censorship using Twitter and other social media. Attempts by Nestlé to constrain user activity on its Facebook fan page further fanned the controversy.

• Culture jamming
• Cybersquatting
• Fake blog
• Identity theft
• Parody account
• Phishing
• Subvertising

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.zdnet.com/article/online-brand-jacking-increasing/ Online brand-jacking increasing], Zdnet.com

Category:Identity theft

Category:Cybercrime