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Murketing is a New Word. Let’s Use it Correctly.

NewTeeVee refers to Rampenfest as murketing and Newsweek recently used the term to refer to the BWM GINA campaign.

I may be wrong, but I believe murketing is starting to be used to refer to the “advertorial-like” corruption of marketing and entertainment. That’s not its origin. The fairly new term was coined by Rob Walker in his book, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are).  Murketing refers to being vague — not deceptive or lacking transparency.

Whether NewTeeVee or Newsweek meant to tweak murketing’s definition isn’t important. We still need a term for advertising that pretends to be something else. Let’s agree to a word — and Wickipedia better damned well credit me for this because I’m making them up right now on Thursday, June 26 at 12:05. Frankly I’m disappointed that a marketer has to create this instead of some PETA-like anti advertising group.

The word should point to the futile attempts that brands have made to promote through social media and video, but not be transparent or honest. It’s branding, but pretending to be entertainment. It almost invariably results in backlash, and it’s quite worse than advertorial (the unhealthy blend of editorial content that is funded by advertisers). It’s the topic of my “CashtoBuzz” parody last year. It was brought to mainstream when a PR firm was exposed for being a silent creator to an anti-Gore penguin parody.

So here are a few shots: 

  1. Masqueradvertising
  2. Trojan horse marketing
  3. Amway Friend
  4. Benedict Arnold entertainment
  5. Rose by Another Name
  6. Advertainment
  7. Enteradvertising
  8. Grim Reaper with a Propeller Hat
  9. Snowmotion

I need some more caffeine to improve these. Feel free to develop it yourself. I won’t steal your word without feeling guilty. After all, I’m a murketer.

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13 Comments

  1. I’m not a murketer, but I do try to “sell” you everytime Youtube is mentioned. I’m like, “OMG, have you seen the Nalts channel? You have to subscribe to him!” It’s not like I’m a freak or anything about it, but I am curious why people have stopped taking my calls and never look me directly in the face anymore. Hmmmm.

    I might have to start my own company…Naltsway. Similar to Amway only better.

    Maybe I’m a Nalts stulker, kind of stalking you, but not really. :o)

  2. Hehehehehe….Nalts said, “Trojan” hehehehehehe…

    Trojan Maaaannnnnnnn!!!!!! (cue horse sound clip)

    I dunno, that just struck me as funny….

  3. 11. Satan’s Little Helper works for me [click] but Brian don’t actually follow his advice because we all know you’re one of the good ones and of course we understand you got to eat and feed all those hungry little mouths while keeping us entertained at work so we don’t get too over productive and turn into half human half machine cyborgs who conquer and convert the planet into a… well I’ll stop there…

  4. XJason- thanks! I had two weird experiences recently. First, my neice said she saw someone at a midwest theme park wearing a Nalts shirt. Second, last night while I was shooting that cow scene for “animal abuse” a random van drove by and said “we love you Nalts.” So it’s working.

    Mike- ROFL over “lie.”

  5. Actually, upon reflection, I like Grim Reaper with a Propeller Hat, or it’s acronym, GRAPH.

  6. Top 10 thoughts:
    1) Deceptertainment…
    2) Sell-ery
    3) Fraud-line marketing
    4) Entertisement
    5) American Buydol

    Wanted to add “ovapee” in tribute to Srinivassa Rangan….

  7. Top 10 part deux:

    6) Marketeering
    7) “Buck-An-Ear”s..
    8) Buyrating (rhymes with “Pirating”)
    9) Disingenius (for particularly good executions of this subterfuge)
    10) Poorly Adapted Promotion (PAP)

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