hackbash

This blog’s got quite a scoop – it appears to be the first site anywhere on the internet with the low-down on the 2008 Product of the Year. There’s some hardcore investigative journalism for you, but I guess it’s all about connections.

The Thats [sic] News article is written in the kind of no-nonsense language that we professional journalists like to use, too. Not for us the tedious mucking about with objectivity; we know when something’s ground breaking [sic], sought after [sic] or even the largest and most representative consumer vote on product innovation in the UK – and we’re not afraid to say so.

Our colleagues over on Thats News have managed to secure an interview with CEO of Product of the Year Management, Mike Nolan, from whom we learn: “Each year thousands of UK household’s [sic] vote in the survey and this year was no exception, seeing a whopping 12,000 people take part.”

But they haven’t been content to take the organisers’ word for it, they’ve sought out original comment from Proctor and Gamble’s Adrian Wells, who tells us “Confused consumers arrive at shelves and see the [Product of the Year] logo, helping them to make a decision on what to buy – there is no doubt about it.”

Call me a suspicious old soul, but I wanted to be sure that Product of the Year really was “voted for by the people, for the people” before I gave it a glowing write-up, so I went to their consumer-focused website to take a look.

There’s no hint of a cynical marketing operation at work here, and I should know: I’m celebrity beauty editor Nadine Baggott.

Tags: investigative journalism, marketing, please be in no doubt as to my heavy use of irony, Product of the Year, scoop