The only winner out of this is Nokia who paid for the hotels and flights home of those bloggers. <a href="http://twitter.com/clintonjeff/status/242358009249026049" rel="nofollow">http://twitter.com/clintonjeff/status/242358009249026049</a>
This is a human trafficking story.<p>Clearly this is not remotely as horrific as the usual connotations, but the structure of bait-and-switch coercion is very similar.
I don't get this story. They were asked to wear a samsung t-shirt. That's not how shills typically work, isn't it typically, pretend you're independent, give good review, rather than, pretend you're part of our PR team?<p>Why would it benefit Samsung to have random Indians bloggers demoing devices in Berlin?<p>Something about this story doesn't make any sense.
This ain't new for Samsung, they did the same during the olympics.<p>Officially they were invited to live the games from the inside but in the end they worked as Samsung publicist for free.<p><a href="http://int13.net/france/blog/i-won-a-contest-to-go-to-the-london-olympic-games/" rel="nofollow">http://int13.net/france/blog/i-won-a-contest-to-go-to-the-lo...</a>
Pretty sure that had they gone to the German authorities and explained how Samsung "trafficked" them into the country with an expectation of being provided a ticket home, Samsung Berlin would get a call from German immigration - and promptly pay for the tickets.
I'm part of the Samsung Mobilers program which is very similar to what they did.<p>I've never experienced as much pressure as described here, but i guess the Indian Samsung subsidiary is managed by different minded people.<p>It was clearly just a communication problem. Samsung expects you to do things at these events and you get your trip and stay for free in return, sometimes a little cash on top.<p>Noone wants to use the word work, for all the red tape this would create...
From the start, the offers that Samsung made seemed ethically questionable. Yes, they may be common, especially where review device access is limited, but they seem very much like bribes.<p>I like The Verge's ethics statement, which they post publicly, for this reason.<p><a href="http://www.theverge.com/ethics-statement" rel="nofollow">http://www.theverge.com/ethics-statement</a><p>"We do not allow trips or any portions of trips (including but not limited to airfare, hotel, or car rentals) to be paid for by third parties (these are known in the industry as 'junkets')."<p>They make expectations for readers <i>and</i> device-makers crystal clear.
Another Indian blogger - Amit Bhawani, who was also there at the event has a different version of the story.
<a href="http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/samsung-mobilers-ifa-2012/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/samsung-mobilers-ifa-2012/</a>
According to him, Samsung had always billed CJ as a promoter and not as a reporter. This seems to be a case of miscommunication. However, even in that situation, what Samsung did was extremely immoral. If they believed CJ was not playing his part they should have flown him back to India, had a discussion, and ejected him from the program. Not leave him stranded in a foreign country.
This is typical of Korean companies. I worked in Korea for years and some of my naïve colleagues would even have their passports held hostage for the duration of the employment contract. This was in the education industry, but these kinds of extortions are pretty standard in Korea.<p>I love Korea, but I avoid doing business in Korea because of this type of tomfoolery.
How could this scenario have gone well for Samsung? Did they think the bloggers would suddenly change their moral stance and do a complete 180 on what they had been insisting for weeks?<p>It seems it would be much easier to find people who are willing to be brand ambassadors and be up front about it if that's what you are looking for.
Samsung statement -<p>Samsung Mob!lers is a voluntary community of active Samsung mobile device users, who are offered the opportunity to participate in our marketing events across the world. At these events, all activities they undertake are on a voluntary basis. No activities are forced upon them.<p>We regret there was a misunderstanding between the Samsung Mob!lers coordinators and the relevant blogger, as we understand he was not sufficiently briefed on the nature of Samsung Mob!lers’ activities at IFA 2012. We have been attempting to get in touch with him.<p>We respect the independence of bloggers to publish their own stories.<p>via - <a href="http://asia.cnet.com/should-samsung-have-stranded-a-blogger-at-ifa-update-62218570.htm" rel="nofollow">http://asia.cnet.com/should-samsung-have-stranded-a-blogger-...</a>
Samsung India seems to be full of morons. First they deny payment to ppk <a href="http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2012/03/never_ever_do_b.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2012/03/never_ever_d...</a> Now they are threatening bloggers.
Now check this - Samsung Mobilers IFA 2012 – Agenda & Facts / Emails Sent to Bloggers - <a href="http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/samsung-mobilers-ifa-2012/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/samsung-mobilers-ifa-2012/</a>
Being stranded in Berlin is certainly not the worst that could happen to you.<p>That said, this is exactly what happens when, as a journalist, you start to blur the lines. As a reader it's hard to feel any sympathy when reading paragraphs that try just a bit too hard to rationalize the behavior:<p><i>Again, a reminder – Behavior such as Samsung’s is not uncommon in the world of tech coverage. It’s perhaps considered more normal in some parts of the world</i>