Marriott buying good publicity for Bonvoy
Mar 11, 2019, 8:26 am
#31
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Sure they do. All the time.
Read Road and Track, Car and Driver, etc. - you think they pay for staying at 5* hotels in Europe for the release party of the new Ferrari, BMW, etc.?
No, they don't.
Do you think they buy the cars they test drive/review, or pay to rent them?
No, they don't.
Do you also think reviewers at CNet buys their own phone and other technology? That travel agents pay their own way to resorts? The reason Consumers Reports makes a big deal out of buying things they review and not acceptaing advertising/funding is because no one else does.
Read Road and Track, Car and Driver, etc. - you think they pay for staying at 5* hotels in Europe for the release party of the new Ferrari, BMW, etc.?
No, they don't.
Do you think they buy the cars they test drive/review, or pay to rent them?
No, they don't.
The middle of February, even in Southern Italy, is perhaps an odd time to debut a new convertible supercar, but Ferrari had faith in their country's weather system and positioned the international media test drive of the new Ferrari Portofino in Puglia, located within the beautiful region of Bari.
...
The base for my time with the new Ferrari Portofino was at the sublime Borgo Egnazia Hotel. A 5 star white washed palace of opulence surrounded by manicured olive groves and - today at least - a selection of Ferraris to chose from!
...
The base for my time with the new Ferrari Portofino was at the sublime Borgo Egnazia Hotel. A 5 star white washed palace of opulence surrounded by manicured olive groves and - today at least - a selection of Ferraris to chose from!
Last edited by CPRich; Mar 11, 2019 at 8:39 am
Mar 11, 2019, 8:36 am
#32
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Mar 11, 2019, 8:48 am
#34
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Source: Was formerly a freelance writer for various "top-tier national outlets" in Southeast Asia, and was offered all sorts of free junkets.
Mar 27, 2019, 10:20 am
#35
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Do "real" journalists take these trips?
Depends on your definition of real.
Where I work (automotive editor, big consumer print/digital) ....NFW. No freebies at all. We buy everything we test. Heck, we pay for the press samples that we borrow ....and never do a score or judgement on ANY press sample. They are just so we can get an early impression on the product.
We don't take the free trips. Like someone else said...R&T, C&D, et al ALL get flown around the world to "test" a car/SUV/truck. Now....they DO fly first class and DO get to stay in nice hotels. But those trips are in/out. Not like they fly to Germany and spend a week jerking around. But, still, they are hosted by the company whose products they are "reviewing/testing."
I know NYTimes is the same way as us. Not taking any freebies.
In a world where content is created by people being paid $25 per article, of COURSE the company/manufacturer is going to offer the trip and of COURSE the writer is going to go on them. And there blurs the world of advertising and journalism. My scuba diving instructor called it the Skin Diver effect -- EVERY review had a great flight, great transfer, best hotel, best dives EVER, best food, great drinks, perfect resort, top notch equipment. The superlatives flowed off the page like a waterfall. Today, rather than a printed article, it's an IG post with dozens of hashtags slobbering accolades about the experience/product/event/resort/equipment. It's really nauseating.
*rant over*
Depends on your definition of real.
Where I work (automotive editor, big consumer print/digital) ....NFW. No freebies at all. We buy everything we test. Heck, we pay for the press samples that we borrow ....and never do a score or judgement on ANY press sample. They are just so we can get an early impression on the product.
We don't take the free trips. Like someone else said...R&T, C&D, et al ALL get flown around the world to "test" a car/SUV/truck. Now....they DO fly first class and DO get to stay in nice hotels. But those trips are in/out. Not like they fly to Germany and spend a week jerking around. But, still, they are hosted by the company whose products they are "reviewing/testing."
I know NYTimes is the same way as us. Not taking any freebies.
In a world where content is created by people being paid $25 per article, of COURSE the company/manufacturer is going to offer the trip and of COURSE the writer is going to go on them. And there blurs the world of advertising and journalism. My scuba diving instructor called it the Skin Diver effect -- EVERY review had a great flight, great transfer, best hotel, best dives EVER, best food, great drinks, perfect resort, top notch equipment. The superlatives flowed off the page like a waterfall. Today, rather than a printed article, it's an IG post with dozens of hashtags slobbering accolades about the experience/product/event/resort/equipment. It's really nauseating.
*rant over*
Mar 27, 2019, 2:27 pm
#37
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Mar 27, 2019, 3:27 pm
#38
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@jlinkov: I was in journalism some 20+ years ago. True journalism is very difficult to come by these days. I don't even think today's journalists know the difference between Op-ed and News, even at the major leagues. Occasionally I'll tune into news broadcasts from my old stomping grounds and what's coming out of the airwaves today would have been a fire-able offense when I was working there.
It was the same for us -- no freebies, especially on anything we were covering/reviewing.
I think the citizenry was a bit more intelligent back then and would have seen through any of that. Today's Instagram crowd? Not so much.
It was the same for us -- no freebies, especially on anything we were covering/reviewing.
I think the citizenry was a bit more intelligent back then and would have seen through any of that. Today's Instagram crowd? Not so much.
Mar 27, 2019, 4:17 pm
#39
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Mar 27, 2019, 4:21 pm
#40
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I guess it's been up to the reader to decided whether DED, Brock, Alterman, Csaba, MacKenzie, Loh, Dyer, etc. are just a bunch of bribed hacks. If Chevy bribed Yates for his Chevette review, I don't think it worked.
Last edited by CPRich; Mar 27, 2019 at 4:31 pm
Apr 10, 2019, 10:36 am
#41
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Well, surprise surprise. It looks as if a blogger from The Points Guy just happened to be in Hong Kong around the same time as the highly publicized Marriott junket.
The blogger-in-question didn't stay at the hotel he lavishly praised. And I quote:
https://thepointsguy.com/news/st-regis-hong-kong-tour/
The blogger-in-question didn't stay at the hotel he lavishly praised. And I quote:
While my impressions are based on a two-hour pre-opening tour, I’m now even more eager to book a stay at this latest addition to the St. Regis brand.