[WikiEN-l] curious advertising tie-in

[Daniel R. Tobias]

On 2 Jul 2007 at 18:39:16 -0400, Steve Summit <scs at eskimo.com> wrote:

> 	In 1969, Yaskawa created the term "Mechatronics"
> 	to encompass electronics, mechanics, and control.
> 	The philosophy of Mechatronics has grown in popularity
> 	ever since.

We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

> 	For more information on Mechatronics, visit the Wikipedia
> 	Web site.

That's rather brave / foolhardy of them to rely on Wikipedia to make 
an advertising point, given that everything there is subject to 
constant change.  By the time the ad comes out, or immediately 
afterward, the article they reference could get deleted, renamed, or 
rewritten in a way less flattering to their company.  I see it 
presently starts with a box saying that the article is "inadequately 
sourced", which probably isn't what their marketing types would 
prefer readers of their ads be confronted with right up front.

I've seen occasional TV/radio ads telling listeners to "Google" some 
product name (also a foolhardy move given that the top Google result 
could easily turn out to be a critic's site), but this is the first 
one I've seen for Wikipedia.

One can say that such techniques show the company has confidence in 
their products if they think that sending people to objective 
information sources will result in their being favorably impressed 
without having to bombard them with marketing propaganda.

-- 
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