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Some people have odd ideas!
As you know, I am the Chief Reviewer for this magazine. I get sent loads of tackle each month by manufacturers, and I give them all a thorough assessment. What I write, I feel, is fair, honest and accurate. Currently, I’m having an exchange of e-mails with a European tackle distributor to arrange the loan of gear for review when something clicks. What he has in mind is that I will choose the gear for review, use their stock photographs to illustrate the article – and use their press release as the copy, the text, for my review. Nothing gets shipped or delivered, nothing gets used or tested. There's no need for me to actually handle anything except a digital photo and a text file. Job done!
There's no need for me to write a word, just copy and paste. No need for me to take photographs. In fact why bother with photographs, just use crayon sketches of what the product might look like if and when it ever gets made?
I'm sure other tackle makers and their marketing people would be overjoyed if they could adopt this system. They sanction the text and the pictures, and the same 'reviews' appear in magazines that appear in all brochures and web-sites run by their stockists!
Have you ever wondered why those glowing descriptions of that glossy new rod or reel are exactly the same on a dozen web shops or in a half dozen catalogues? Yep, you guessed, they just copy and paste.
Thinking back to these e-mails, what bothers me is he clearly does that with other magazines and websites.
Existing comments
I used to write those "advertorials" for the outdoor industry, mostly clothing & climbing equipment. They were used on editorial pages & I was always surprised that no ever questioned what was written in them. I never wrote anything, other than a general cover note explaining what a product was intended for, to equipment reviewers (prefering them to make up their own minds about the quality and usefulness of a product). I would say that some reviewers were better than others and with one in particular it was necessary to explain the product and its correct use so that it wasn't tested in an inappropriate way and hence got a bad review (ie the best climbing backpack in the world tested for hill walking wouldn't work & hence get a bad review despite being an excellent product for its intended purpose). I doubt this is an issue with fishing equipment as testers are experienced anglers rather than journalists masquerading as enthusiasts which seems to be increasingly common in the outdoor industry. There is a place for this kind of manufacturer written info but it's not in a gear review. Any marketing person with half a brain wouldn't want it that was as the reader would see right through it and reflect very badly on the brand concerned.
By Ian Berry on 2011 04 13
I reckon theres already enough advertisment in FFFT.
By Bob Morgan on 2011 04 15
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