Somhairle Kelly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mirrorshard) wrote2012-06-08 12:11 pm
mirrorshard) wrote2012-06-08 12:11 pm
Entry tags:
Workfare games and social media advertising fail
So, I got some rather entertainingly creepy Twitter spam yesterday.
Turns out this is some sort of Shoreditchy ARG-cinema-thing run by Fabien Riggall, who does Secret Cinema (warning: website plays noise at you). So this is almost certainly very badly directed please-please-buy-a-£35-ticket-and-join-our-game marketing spam, but I wanted to see how far it went, so gave them a standard "sure, email me details of the role and we'll see" response.
Turns out it's not just marketing spam, but fractally stupid marketing spam! Somehow, they picked me, of all people, to offer an unpaid "job" posting spam on their behalf, presumably trying to recruit people to post spam and buy absurdly expensive tickets to their events. Also, apparently, they're offering everyone the "Chief Information Officer" title, which is a bit crap in itself. 30 seconds' research found four people claiming to be Chief Information Officer for Brave New Venture, which is just comedic. Also, once you've paid for your ticket, you get inside and get the opportunity to pay more for in-game money, buy drinks, and pay for food. Definitely only an evening for rich people!
Of course, I wouldn't be nearly so annoyed about this if it weren't for the catastrophic mistargeting (who pitches expensive event tickets to people who tweet about disability benefits?) and the fake "job" thing. As far as spam goes, "We have a job for you" is the new "You may already have won £10 million". I'm not about to fall for it, but that doesn't mean I enjoy having my poor-disabled-working-class nose rubbed in the fact that people who can afford to pay £35 for a ticket to a mysterious, undetailed event think that a) I'll do their advertising for the vague promise of a treat after I've paid up myself, and b) jobs and employment are something to play games around.
In fact, it's not just employment generally: what they're specifically "offering", within the game context (which I didn't agree to join, so having people try to talk to me within it is irritating in itself) is unpaid and stringently assessed tasks, with further "work" depending on performance. As advertising goes, this is really quite spectacularly mistimed. I'm trying very hard to avoid workfare in real life, so being offered it as an "opportunity" to pay for in a game (giving the organisers a real-life benefit at that) is pretty offensive. If something sounds interesting, I'll tweet about it; if I've been there and liked it, I'll encourage others; but as far as publicity on the basis of one generic, not-even-slightly-personalised email goes, this post is all they're getting. The good news is that I'm not going to invoice them for it.
@Bravenewventure: @Eithin Good afternoon. A study of your profile has determined you to be a possible candidate for a role at #BraveNewVentures. Interested?
Turns out this is some sort of Shoreditchy ARG-cinema-thing run by Fabien Riggall, who does Secret Cinema (warning: website plays noise at you). So this is almost certainly very badly directed please-please-buy-a-£35-ticket-and-join-our-game marketing spam, but I wanted to see how far it went, so gave them a standard "sure, email me details of the role and we'll see" response.
Turns out it's not just marketing spam, but fractally stupid marketing spam! Somehow, they picked me, of all people, to offer an unpaid "job" posting spam on their behalf, presumably trying to recruit people to post spam and buy absurdly expensive tickets to their events. Also, apparently, they're offering everyone the "Chief Information Officer" title, which is a bit crap in itself. 30 seconds' research found four people claiming to be Chief Information Officer for Brave New Venture, which is just comedic. Also, once you've paid for your ticket, you get inside and get the opportunity to pay more for in-game money, buy drinks, and pay for food. Definitely only an evening for rich people!
Of course, I wouldn't be nearly so annoyed about this if it weren't for the catastrophic mistargeting (who pitches expensive event tickets to people who tweet about disability benefits?) and the fake "job" thing. As far as spam goes, "We have a job for you" is the new "You may already have won £10 million". I'm not about to fall for it, but that doesn't mean I enjoy having my poor-disabled-working-class nose rubbed in the fact that people who can afford to pay £35 for a ticket to a mysterious, undetailed event think that a) I'll do their advertising for the vague promise of a treat after I've paid up myself, and b) jobs and employment are something to play games around.
In fact, it's not just employment generally: what they're specifically "offering", within the game context (which I didn't agree to join, so having people try to talk to me within it is irritating in itself) is unpaid and stringently assessed tasks, with further "work" depending on performance. As advertising goes, this is really quite spectacularly mistimed. I'm trying very hard to avoid workfare in real life, so being offered it as an "opportunity" to pay for in a game (giving the organisers a real-life benefit at that) is pretty offensive. If something sounds interesting, I'll tweet about it; if I've been there and liked it, I'll encourage others; but as far as publicity on the basis of one generic, not-even-slightly-personalised email goes, this post is all they're getting. The good news is that I'm not going to invoice them for it.
Dear Candidate,
We are contacting you to inform you that you have been identified as a potential target for a crucial role within Brave New Ventures.
Firstly, congratulations. Our identification process relies on a number of behavioural and suitability metrics. To have reached this stage is testament to your strength of character, adaptability and ability to communicate. Although you are not yet part of Brave New Ventures, very few candidates reach this stage.
We are contacting you regarding a role that is of utmost importance to the continued operation of Brave New Ventures. As Chief Information Officer, your task will be to promote and assist in our current recruitment drive. The success of our voyage is crucial not only to our investors, but to humanity itself. It is imperative, therefore, that we find the right candidate for each and every position. If you prove your aptitude for this task, this role could be yours.
In order to qualify for the position, we will require you to spread the word about our recruitment drive to all avenues available to you, be they fora, social networks or other online communities. We will, of course, require evidence of your work via regular reports. Failure to report will be considered failure to perform. Failure to perform will not be tolerated.
This will entail visiting online communities and informing members that Brave New Ventures are recruiting for positions throughout the company. These communities can be related to science, research, cinema or your own personal networks.
Examples of the work you could undertake are:
Visiting a science fiction/anthropology/osteo-archeology/scientific research Facebook/Twitter pages and informing the community that Brave New Ventures are hiring
Posting content to your Twitter feed linking the @BraveNewVenture account and informing your audience of our recruitment drive - always include the #bravenewventures tag in all communications
Posting a blog article about this communiqué (obviously removing sensitive information such as these instructions)
Consider that you are acting on behalf of Brave New Ventures, and that this position of power requires at all times the utmost discretion and decorum. You have 48 hours to report back to us with your activity. We will be watching.
Should you need any further information on how to carry out your duties, respond to this message.
If you need to refer to an online resource, please use:
SECRET CINEMA https://www.facebook.com/pages/Secret-Cinema/46896241052
BRAVE NEW VENTURES CORPORATE HUB http://www.bravenewventures.org/
BRAVE NEW VENTURES TWITTER https://twitter.com/#!/Bravenewventure
#BRAVENEWVENTURES
Good luck, Chief Information Officer. We will communicate again soon.
Victoria Hale,
Brave New Ventures
Our mailing address is:
Brave New Ventures
69-71 Leonard Street
London, Greater London EC2A 4QU
United Kingdom
Re: From one Information Officer to Another