I’ve not really been on Twitter much of late, I’ve been keeping an eye on it, and trying to keep up with what everyone is up to – I’ve noticed increasingly that more and more bloggers will seemingly sell their souls (well perhaps blogs) for any old toot when it comes to a special occasion.
Mother’s Day and the lead up to it was particularly depressing to watch on Twitter, I got my Mum some flowers and a card. I paid for them with my money, I wasn’t sponsored or asked to write about it, I did it because, well, it’s Mother’s Day and especially at the moment, my Mum needed a smile.
For some of my Blogging chums though, it felt like Mothers Day was an excuse to get some freebies to tweet about, and blog about..
“I got my Mum an XYZ from @SomeRetailer – Read my review – http://iamaprick.net/etc – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY”
REALLY?
It’s depressing that a nice day to celebrate and acknowledge your mother turned into a ‘I got a freebie – I must whorez it on my blog’, I just seems cheap and tacky. It’s not just Mother’s Day, any kind of holiday or celebration are jumped on by PRs and SEOs to shift product – I get offered so much rubbish it makes my head spin. Mother’s Day, Christmas, etc are means for celebration, not to blag a freebie or two.
I’ve already been offered some bits and bobs to push for Fathers Day, including a STUPIDLY expensive pair of gloves. It’s great to be thought about, and heck, I could probably write some bullshit about gloves and then sell them on, but I want to try and keep some integrity, and keep my blog on target. This post here is proof alone that you CAN be honest in reviewing something, it was fun to have a night out and a giggle, but ultimately the show was terrible and I’d have been pissed off if I’d paid for it.
Even the birth of children is a depressing affair in the world of blogging, continual “I got this lovely ABC for my Baby – Thanks so much @SomeOtherCompany”. Half the excitement of having a little one is buying all the bits and bobs, going and having a play with a buggy, musing over a cot, not just waiting for whatever a company will offer you. Even before a baby is born the fishing rods come out, lots of “Wow I’ve just seen QWERTY product from @SomePlaceOnline – I’d love one of them when Baby is born”. Here’s an idea – stop fucking openly begging and BUY one, my bum-hole is almost inverted from the cringing!
Thing is, it’s not even the blatant blogging freeloaders that do it, it’s some of the biggest bloggers going. No special occasion is sacred, if there is a freebie going the blogs are open and ready for a screwing. Are we all that cheap? Are things so bad even the birth of a child is a commercial venture to gain as much free crap as possible?
I know it’s nice to get something for nothing once in a while, but when it starts getting to the point where even special events throughout the year are used to whore practically anything to sell some product, or push a blog, it just feels tacky.
What do you think?
I only read the stuff i’m interested in, and I’m not interested in buying stuff. I think real, objective reviews can be useful but worry about objectivity when the reviewer is given freebies. Surely, if you write a load of sucky reviews, people stop reading your blog? I would.
I hope this post is purely dedicated to me. I cant remember the last time I bought baby shizzle, gosh I even get the nappies through blogging 😉
Haha.. We all know you’re a whore Harris, it doesn’t need pointing out 😉 😛
It’s branded on my forehead.
Though lately I’ve spotted a couple of bloggers who are so up brands arses it’s actually made me scream out YOU’RE SUCH A BLAGGER. For me, I let companies and brands come to me, I’ll follow them back on Twitter if they follow me and they’re actually interesting. One blagger, I mean blogger is constantly hinting and forever schoomzling with brands. It’s awkward to watch!
I think you’re absolutely right. I’d also like to highlight just how good the team at Bugaboo have been for sending me their latest Bugbaoo Whatever 901 to try out.
😉
I think that there’s a really thick line and there are a couple of people who’ve leapt over it with gay abandon. The pesterers who “ohhh, what a shame, I didn’t get to review that” every other post or “my washing machine/mug/living room window/sense of self-respect just shattered, has anyone got a contact” do my nut in.
I wouldn’t say I am a whore but I will accept pretty much anything relevant or useful to my family as I am unemployed. Sometimes I ask, like when I was very overdrawn and my son started bed-wetting. The quality bedding I was given was brilliant, and I could not afford it myself at the time.
I do have limits of course. I think i annoy more people going on about charities than Blogging reviews. 😉
As a non-commercial blogger I totally love that no matter what I can say whatever the fuck I want on my blog… I’m gonna stay that way too! 🙂 there’s always a few that go overboard with irrelevant and to be honest ‘boring’ product reviews. PR bullshit. They give the good reviewers a bad name frankly! I just don’t read them I come here and watch you making friends again Mr Hakes :))) ha!
Well – someone has to call them out for being cunts..
Kip – I’m with you when it comes to sponsored posts. The vast majority of them aren’t even proper reviews, their basically advertising that the blogger is providing for whatever company has sent them free stuff / paid them.
I haven’t been offered much stuff to review, although a company representing a supermarket that I’d criticized on my blog for not being very dad friendly got in touch to see if I fancied reviewing a stair gate. It was nice of them to offer, but I’ve only ever received one offer that was for something that fitted with my blog and the sort of thing that I post about (a book about bilingual parenting that’s due out soon).