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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
 Posted - 04/20/2004 : 06:51:11
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Heard about this on the radio last night...
Go to Google, and do a search for 'cloning'. At the very top of the list, as a sponored result reading "Cloning is now a reality," you'll find a link to The Godsend Institute. Wow. Impressive stuff. They even refer to the Raelians as either 'delusional' or 'liars'.
What doesn't appear anywhere on the site, however, is that the domain name, godsendinstitute.org is owned by Lion's Gate Entertainment. LGE is releasing a film called Godsend on April 30th.
Perhaps if I went to more movies, I would have recognized the original site from the trailer. Perhaps I could have recognized Robert DeNiro from the itty-bitty photos of him on that site.
Of course, having heard about this on the radio, I didn't fall for anything. But, according to the NPR interviews with people from LGE, they are getting hundreds of calls a week at the phone number listed on the web site, with many of the callers seriously asking for information.
And they do tell the callers that the site is an advertisement for the movie. And, it's a toll-free call, so people aren't getting ripped off just for being inquisitive.
But, is this a sort of "stealth advertising" which will becoming the norm, soon? I mean, there's reason enough to doubt things you see on TV and on the web, but this level of intentional deception seems a bit extreme. I mean, at least the Subservient Chicken is obviously a Burger King ad, even if a very strange one.
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- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2004 : 10:37:27 [Permalink]
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It looks like they might be borderline on the advertising, but over on the side where it says hoax in relation to the Raelians, if you click the link, it takes you to the movie advertisement. Subtle.
Though I would question the psychological effect on people that think this is real. |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2004 : 10:56:48 [Permalink]
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| The link is on every page, looking further. On the home page, it's the graphic box titled, 'See if You Qualify.' |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2004 : 11:18:15 [Permalink]
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| Okay, I'm pretty sure they've made changes, then. That graphic wasn't a link at all when I first looked at the site. I found that so strange that I'm sure I'm remembering my poking-around of two days ago accurately. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2004 : 20:16:00 [Permalink]
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| Hmm, maybe too many complaints over the weekend. Or the linked site wasn't up in time. |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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Tim
SFN Regular
USA
775 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2004 : 00:40:46 [Permalink]
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quote:
Posted by DaveBut, is this a sort of "stealth advertising" which will becoming the norm, soon?
I've been getting a bit uneasy about various forms of 'stealth' advertising for a few years, now. And, like the fuzziness of these new types of brand markrting, the exact reasons I distrust this form of product endorsement is hard to put my finger on.
My sister works for a large corporartion in the P.R. department. Part of her job is to visit motion picture studios and various non-news magazine publications to assure their product is portrayed in the manner that her company has bargained for. One of their products may appear anywhere from a television show to even an ad for another product.
The part I have a problem with is that I simply don't know if a citation is a commercial venture or a real part of a story. Nor, do I know if my dollars are supporting a product that I wouldn't otherwise choose to support.
I'm afraid that these 'stealth' advertisements may even begin to appear in real news stories and commentary. I'm afraid that companies may use these marketing techniques to endorse issues or even political candidates. I'm afraid that this may already be happening--all in consideration of the bottom line.
The line between what is real and what some special interest would like me to think is real has begun to blur. Kinda makes it hard to be objective and skeptical in everyday life... |
"We got an issue in America. Too many good docs are gettin' out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their -- their love with women all across this country." Dubya in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, 9/6/2004
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2004 : 11:52:48 [Permalink]
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| This is litte more than legal subliminal messaging. Im still getting used to guerrilla marketing, had comcast call my cell phone with a pre-recorded message about purchasing the mayorga fight. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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