Blu-ray backers launch deceptive "Hi-Def News" site
There is a new web site focused on unbiased coverage of high-definition entertainment. The only problem: it's a Blu-Ray promotional campaign — exclusively covering Blu-Ray — created by its backers: Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, and others. Hi-def fans spotted the campaign immediately and are decrying the site as propaganda.
The site's blogger, Scott Hettrick, has been proactively responding. He edited his first blog post that, ironically, attempted to dispel the rumors and propaganda surrounding the hi-def format war ("...there's an awful lot of propaganda and posturing out there by both the companies releasing the product and the so-called "fanboys" of the Internet.") with a disclaimer ("As we note clearly in "About Us," this site is supported on many different levels by many of the more than 170 companies that support Blu-ray, most primarily Disney, Fox and Sony, but no single organization or group.") But Hettrick's "honesty" does little to alter the "propaganda and posturing" of this advertising campaign. The deception is sure to backfire, the site shuttered as has happened in the past.
In fact, everyone involved, particularly Sony, should have known better. Sony has been caught creating a fake blog promoting the PSP last December and fake critics for its movies six years ago. And we thought Sony had learned with the PSP fiasco: "Guess we were trying to be just a little too clever. From this point forward, we will just stick to making cool products, and use this site to give you nothing but the facts..." Yes, please.