It’s no Enron scandal, but a recent potential AT&T mishap has reminded us all how truly important it is for brands to be insanely careful with their actions. So what’s the deal? Well, AT&T has been accused of intentionally teaching customers how to “power text” during the recent final vote on this season of American Idol.  Power texting, which involves sending multiple text messages at one time, is an obviously advantageous technique with respect to American Idol since each text message sent to an AI shortcode represents a vote for one’s favoured contestant.

Now American Idol is standing by the results, as they apparently have mechanisms for tracking and discounting power votes. Regardless, even an innocent situation can lead to customer resentment and suspicion.

Life lesson?

As marketers, we have to be insanely careful about taking steps that might be perceived as harmful to one group or another. There are always going to be those claiming that marketing and advertising are exploitative, and it is our collective responsibility to uphold truthfulness and transparency – not simply for the sake of their own corporate efforts, but to maintain the integrity of the industry.