We’ve been finding obvious spam comments for Ashton Kutcher’s new E! reality show “Pop Fiction.” The comments are from the same IP address on unrelated posts urging people to watch:
Commentor gena: Hahaha!! It was all a prank on the paparazzi!! Its that new show on E! Pop Fiction. Its freakn awsome. The celebrities play pranks on the pap. What a genies idea. Paris Hiltons one was great all the paparazzi bit right into it. Shes not religious come on people. I love this show. Heres the link you wanted. Tell me what you think http://www.eonline.com/on/shows/popfiction/index.jsp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Iw4qvy8jQ
03.18.08 – 9:15 pmCommentor Amanda (same IP as Gena): dUDE did you see David Spade on that show Pop Fiction on E!. Its was hella funny. The show made it look like he picked up a bride from the club and took her home. The paparazzi had a frenzie and thought he actualy did it!!! This show is so great. I cant wait till next sunday. Heres the links tell me what you think. http://www.eonline.com/on/shows/popfiction/index.jsp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Iw4qvy8jQ
03.19.08 – 2:15 pmCommentor ms2fab (same IP as Gena and Amanda): Secrets out, is hollywood a new game? I love this show pop fiction, i think its awesome not only for the celebrities to be getting back at papparazzi, but also showing us, the vieweres, that we shouldn’t honestly believe everything we here is true!! Incase any of you missed this show, heres a link to a clip that showed what happened a bit, check it out next sunday on E! to see what other stories we have learned to believe is not true!! Why not let the celebrities have their own fun with us,, we are so quick to be able to get a littl epeep into their lives and are the ones obsessed with these kind of things. Billiant Ashton! Absolutely Brilliant!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L…h? v=LiIJczDRd00
03.12.08 – 3:30 pm
[Comments on Celebitchy on various posts, only the last post had anything to do with Pop Fiction]
The IP Address of those three comments was the exact same and it’s from an ISP to small businesses. I wonder if E! executives specifically authorized a PR agency to spam blogs with stupid ads for their show or if they’re unaware of their “guerilla marketing” tactics. I hate cleaning up spam from those dating sites every day, and now I have to look for spam for “Pop Fiction” too.
Due to this spam, we are not reporting another story on this asinine show, unless it’s to update a prior story with the news that it was a prank. We will not cover Pop Fiction again, and I hope the shows dies a quick death. It’s a great concept, but it’s executed poorly and the pranks are not that interesting or clever.
Spam is like telemarketing. It’s unwelcome, annoying, and wastes everyone’s time. It also makes you look desperate.
Update: We got many more, I counted over 20 comments, from “Sandra,” “Jessica,” “greg,” “Linda,” Monica” and “plastic” at that same IP address as the other three on unrelated posts. I’ve left one up on the post about Bill Clinton and Brad Pitt. These people are starting to rival the dating site spammers:
Commentor gena (same IP as Amanda and ms2fab): Hahaha!! It was all a prank on the paparazzi!! Its that new show on E! Pop Fiction. Its freakn awsome. The celebrities play pranks on the pap. What a genies idea. Paris Hiltons one was great all the paparazzi bit right into it. Shes not religious come on people. I love this show. Heres the link you wanted. Tell me what you think
http://www.eonline.com/on/shows/…ction/ index.jsp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4…h? v=41Iw4qvy8jQ
03.19.08 – 2:35 pm
I think the E! People have some ‘splaining to do.
Update 2: I left a voicemail message for E! Networks public relations and am waiting to hear back.
Googling “ms2fab” I’ve found some comments that are also spam for another E! Reality show, “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.” The spam is here and here. A person with this nick was also spamming a hip hop forum with advertisements for Snoop Doggs latest CD.
It seems that all of this spam is coming from a PR Firm called “Cashmere Agency,” which posted the YouTube clips linked from the comments. Their website claims that they:
see ourselves as tailors of popular culture; creating fashioning and custom-fitting a full service marketing outfit for our clients who want to reach the multicultural, 12-34 year old urban demographic. We have measured and analyzed their subcultures – ranging from hip-hop to extreme sports. This ethnically diverse, urban youth demographic are viable, cash-wielding consumers… The Cashmere Agency knows where this demographic hangs, so by knowing what their destinations are on the Internet and the real world, we are able to weave your brand seamlessly into that custom niche.
Another Update: I sent this e-mail to the Cashmere agency letting them know that spamming is not acceptable:
Dear Cashmere Agency,
Do not spam my site with ads for E! reality show Pop Fiction. Has your client authorized spamming the comments of celebrity blogs? I have left a message with E! public relations letting them know that this is not acceptable.Yesterday I counted over 20 spam comments using different names all from the same IP address [redacted]. This has been going on for some time.
All of the comments were over the top and pointed users to videos posted under your YouTube channel. Since other online spam using the same nicknames was also for clients listed under your website, i.e. Snoop Dogg, I have to assume that your agency is responsible.
The first promotional comment was under the nickname “ms2fab,” a username which has spammed other blogs with raving comments about other E! Reality shows and ads for Snoop Dogg’s album.
Is this how you “weave your brand seamlessly into that custom niche?” Do you routinely try to “blend in” online and covertly influence opinion? At least one of your employees is sticking out like a sore thumb and brushing that niche with too wide strokes.
While most of this spam has been deleted and the offender banned, I have screenshots of all of it, and it took me quite some time to clean up all the promotional comments yesterday with links to your youtube channel. Here are just a few examples out of at least two dozen:
Update 3/22/08: As of Saturday morning, E! Networks public relations has not responded to two voicemail messages left Thursday afternoon asking for comment and noting that the Cashmere agency was thought to be responsible. No one from Cashmere agency has responded to my e-mail.
“Sandra” has one of these under the Seal post. I wouldn’t worry over them. They all seem illiterate anyway.
They’re probably assuming the typical gossip blog reader is illiterate and so they’re trying to style their writing accordingly.
They do a good job, not one of them is able to write an intelligible sentence.
Well tvf, they obviously don’t realise that CB runs an altogether classier ship 😉
At least the “. He’s beautiful! i love her! i heard tell that they may have some photograph of their poodle on a wealthy celebrity dating website because Hollywood just isn’t incestuous already. Check it out at hollywoodcelebrityherpes.com because I really couldn’t be arsed doing it myself”
brigade somewhat modify their content to the post –
except the Anthony Minghella one. I WILL bite the bitch’s fingers for that one if the world gets so crazy as for them to be in biting distance.
And the best bit is, some of them (ellenm?) actually do read the vitriol we post when it just gets too insulting – I remember one correcting their grammatical and syntax errors. They may be spammers, but they’re willing to learn 😉
Wow, WTF?! That’s crazy! The show is good though.
Tech Nical – why is your “Homepage” Set to Pop Fiction’s website? WTF indeed.
I don’t know. I was looking at the links you posted. I thought I copied and pasted my page: going.com/righteouslady into the url section. Sorry.Love your website by the way.
Thank you CB for being smart enough & not buying into this shit. I wonder what the PRs will say.
i agree, CB. No more posts about Ashton’s stupid-ass show. I watched it and thought it was so boring and anticlimactical.
I haven’t seen it for two reasons
(a) I’m not sure it’s on E! here yet (satellite only) and
(b) I don’t own a tv where I live.
But it does sound like a brilliant concept, but the most hilarious trick they could think of was Eva and that AC Slater tool going to lunch? the f***** do that all the time anyway! Now if the necklace was from, say, Jack Nicholson that would have been somewhat more interesting or someone really left-field like Anthony Hopkins.
But seriously, doing the same nonsense you do everyday but with added jewellery isn’t going to have the paps clutching their sides in mirth and gasping “oh you got me…. you guys!!!”
(ooh CB – thanks for cleaning up the double post I think it’s down to that server not liking Safari)
Thank God. Just another reason why I LOVE CELEBITCHY!!!!
OMG! i HATE telemarketers…i loathe them with every fiber of my being…and i answer the phones at work…so i can’t be mean to them…it’s torture…i talk to at least 10 a day
Ahaha..”It’s a genies idea” lamo
I love you guys…Ashton, not so much.
Smarmy bastards, every one. If it works as I think it works, these knuckleheads get paid per post to be a douchenozzle. The dating site spam is bots, there are programs that will carpet bomb blogs and forums with some preprogrammed link heavy jibberswill, but the Pop whatever folks are likely real people who annoy you for profit.
You’re doing a kickass job of staying on top of it, CB + staff. It’s the single most frustrating part of trying to keep a cool community like this going. A pox on all the f-ing spam marketers.
That rant felt good. : )
OMG every1!!! You have to check out Ashton’s hilarious new show! It’s gr8!!1
(Just kidding, don’t ban me.)
how annoying. not to mention offensive when you consider that their “understanding” of the urban youth niche involves incomprehensible slang, misuse of vocabulary and poor grammar.
A “punked” show by another name would be the same steaming pile of unwatchable sh*t.
Well, on the bright side, at least you know that you are considered a “destination”. I mean, the spamming sucks, but that they rank CB high enough to bother is sort of a backhanded compliment. In a way. I guess. Maybe?
“we are able to weave your brand seamlessly into that custom niche”
Yeah, just look at the way they seamlessly weaved all that shit in without anyone noticing….
You know what is so funny? Ashton’s show is an indirect insult to the people they are attacking and trying to get to watch it. Basically they are saying FU to all the fans by giving false info. They are pretty much making fun of us and saying we are too stupid to know the truth and they Hollywood are going to put one over on us. Expect a nice false Rumer to to used pretty soon. I expect his step-daughter will want some action.
It’s a stupid tactic. I think most people, like myself, ignore spam comments. Most of them don’t even lead to legitimate sites and I’m too worried about adware and spyware to find out.
True Headache, they only really annoy me when they’re in completely inappropriate threads – such as the one that’s in the Anthony Minghella one now – saying that “HAHA it’s all a prank” FFS. If they’re clever enough to figure a way of tailoring their posts they’re clever enough to know that sticking that nonsense in a thread about death isn’t going to make anyone go there.
There is certainly no way that i’d go to a link that was never asked for. I’m noticing that the dating sites are trying to circumvent software that automatically excludes links by typing spaces between the words.
CB, you are badass! This is my favorite blog site, btw.
Get ’em CB! Boycott the hell out of them!
This whole concept is ridiculous. Celebs are sick of false stories about them, so they are making their own?
They’re sick of attention so they draw more attention to themselves?
Riiight…
Good job, Mrs. Holmes. 😉 That sucks about being spammed, have you any response yet from anyone?
Well done you CB! Way to fly the flag for bloggers everywhere who have to waste their time on this nonsense. P.S. are the spammers that retarded… don’t they think an incomprehensible post full of links will stick out like a sore thumb on a site like this
yahoo
I watched all your links on you tube and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for giving us these wonderful links.
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Rony stephen.
Knox Leon
Well it seems like catching them wasn’t very difficult, but good for you guys for calling them out on it, and going the extra mile to alert E! to the situation and call out the agency themselves.
I mean if they were going to spam you, the least they could do was pick a show that wasn’t exactly the same as one that was previously dropped…
CB keep it up. Great stuff
your posts always cheer me up!
In my opinion you are not right. I am assured.
McGuffin is currently responsible for supervising a staff of six field agents plus six clerical staff. ,
good article
Those low life spammers. When will they quit the unsolicited marketing! It is really annoying. I just purchased a Galaxy Pad on Black Friday. Discovered a great holiday gift promotion on the Android market. I recommend purchasing apps for friends and family members this holiday. Flash Card Maker Pro changed my life! What works for you?
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Keep up the good writing.