Maybe I'm making too much of
this: Sony pays $1.5m over fake critic
In 2001, ads for films including Hollow Man and A Knight's Tale quoted praise from a reviewer called David Manning, who was exposed as being invented.
Seems Sony didn't want to take the chance of relying on real critics or word of mouth.
(The fake critic) supposedly called Heath Ledger "this year's hottest new star" for his role in A Knight's Tale, said The Animal was "another winner" and Hollow Man was "one hell of a scary ride".
But The Ridgefield Press, a small paper in Connecticut, said David Manning had never worked for them.
Now, how much more closely can that story resemble
this one?Pentagon Rejects Use of Anonymous Quotes
The recent use of quotes from an anonymous Iraqi in two military news releases was an "egregious error," the Pentagon's top spokesman said in a memo aimed at preventing it from happening again.
There's more...
Yes I know. The Sony episode is from 2001, while
this episode is from last week.
According to CNN.com, which picked up the quotes before they were removed (from the military's website), the military's July 13 release came after an attack. The sentence quoting the Iraqi read:
" 'The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the children and all of Iraq,' said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified. 'They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists.' "
The July 24 release came after a second attack, this one on Iraqi security forces (ISF): " 'The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the ISF and all of Iraq. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists,' said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified."
I don't know about you, but I believe the Iraqi in question, like the fake film critic, never existed.
It may be a stretch to blame Chimpco's influence for Sony's deception. But it's not unlikely that Chimpco has learned well the tactics practiced by greedy, win-at-all-costs corporations.
Whatever, it's tough raising my young son in a world where moral bankruptcy is the norm both at the corporate level, and in the government of the most powerful nation on earth. (sigh)
