Blog
03.14
Estimated Time to Read: 1 minute, 33 seconds [what’s this?]
MediaCorp's Cash Grab on the Earthquake Breaks Up
In times of crisis, there is always someone salivating for an open door to make money on the side while people grieve.
Surely, there was a t-shirt vendor outside One World Trade selling press-ons reading "Never Forget" with a couple of bald eagles on each sleeve.
And of course, how many magazines are selling tchotchkeys from the War in the Middle East?
Understanding that makes this story a little easy to swallow, but then be prepared to spit it back out.
It seems MediaCorp, Singapore's leading media company, decided it would be a great idea to advise their contacts to take advantage of extended news coverage of the tragedy in Japan... and bottom-line advertising rates.
BROADCASTER MediaCorp has issued an apology for sending out marketing e-mail last Friday urging advertisers to capitalise on breaking news about the earthquake in Japan.
The e-mail said its news channel would be carrying extended reports on the disaster.
It asked recipients to call its sales representatives to book advertising slots for the weekday evening programmes, which were expected to draw sizeable audiences.
So, for only $5,000, any company can sell their soul and make a profit off these harrowing pictures.
In what has to be one of the worst responses to a crisis this flack has ever read, MediaCorp's SVP of Marketing and Sales Planning told AsiaOne's news the following:
We apologize unreservedly if we had been seen to be insensitive to the gravity of the situation. The staff concerned has been counseled to be more circumspect; we hope the public will be forgiving and we can focus our attention and efforts on the affected victims of this most unfortunate tragedy.
We're a fun firm at HCK2, but I will probably get a call from HR if I type expletives, so I'll just close the post here.
Stay classy, MediaCorp.
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