Undercover Marketing - Risks

Risks

If marketers fail to hide the campaign, they run considerable risk of backlash. In cases where consumers discover they have been manipulated into liking the product, they generally become angry at the marketer (and by association that product) over being misled. This has led some to apply more derogatory names to undercover marketing, such as roach baiting, likening the products marketed this way to poison. In some cases, the amount of buzz generated by a failed campaign can exceed that of a successful one, only with the opposite of the desired result.

An example of this sort of backlash can be found in Sony Entertainment's debacle with Zipatoni. Zipatoni attempted to engage in a stealth marketing campaign, which was quickly detected by the internet community. Sony immediately experienced backlash from video game enthusiasts. Their ad campaign was perceived by the community to be shallow enough that it insulted Sony's target audience by implying that they were shallow enough to fall for it.