Jonas Klit Nielsen Written by Jonas Klit Nielsen

Update: Danish Mother Seeking is fake – What do you think about it?

After talking to a journalist at TV2 Nyhederne who called  Findize.com (who denied any connection to the Danish “mother”), we’ve been searching for a whole new theory. The current theory is actually much closer to what we (as a social media agency) believe in; using social media for social good.

Our first fear was that a meaningless company/brand was behind the campaign, which, in our opinion, would be a shameful attempt to take advantage of peoples emotions just to get attention.

But what if there is a good cause behind the video? Is it an organisation of some sort? Maybe an organisation where the issue is children? If this is the case, an organisation like PlanDanmark could be a guess. This would give meaning to a campaign of this sort.

We still think it’s tricky when a viral campaign spreads by manipulating peoples feelings (a lot of people feel deeply sorry for the ‘mother’ – but of course you can argue that the goal sometimes justifies the means. Let’s see…

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There is no doubt in my mind that the “Danish Mother Seeking” is a viral campaign. A whole lot of people are discussing right now if it is true or not – and who is behind it.

After I was interviewed by a journalist from Sydsvenskan.se, my best guess right now is FINDIZE.COM. Why? Well, FINDIZE.COM launched their web product on the 8th of September, 2 days prior to the campaign, and 11 hours ago they opened a channel on YouTube, called Findize with the Karen26 video on it. Now from what I have picked up on Twitter, Karen26 is an old flame of someone who can confirm that she is an actress. Furthermore the Swedish journalist who called me had sent a mail to danishkaren26@gmail.com and got a standard reply saying something like “Stay tuned to Youtube.com/user/findize for more info”.

Findize.com’s slogan  – ‘Get Found – Get Findized at Findize.com’.  Pretty apt for a story about a mother seeking the father of her son.

A lot of conspiracy theories are now spinning around ‘Danish mother seeking’. Some of them even suspect Mindjumpers because of our response ‘The father’s story’. First of all we thought that this was a fun comment to this viral campaign. But basically we believe it’s wrong to play with peoples emotions like the original video does.  A lot of people seem really concerned about Karen and they will feel cheated when they find out it’s a fake. In our opinion, social media should not take advantage of people – but be used to inspire and connect people around causes that make a difference.

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  • http://virkeligheden.dk/?p=1054 Anders Colding-Jørgensen

    Lots of people have sent Karen their love and will be rightfully pissed off if this indeed should turn out to be fictional ;o) Not very good karma….

  • rhbjorn

    Sorry about blaming you. I posted a correction in a self reply

  • Lisbeth Døssing

    Kun med kondom, hedder kampagnen – den gik i gang i mandags. Det er sundhedsstyrelsen og regioner, så vidt jeg husker!

    Ærlig talt pinligt at journalisterne hopper på de viralreklamer hver eneste gang.

  • http://kim-jensen.dk Kim Jensen

    Jeg indrømmer gerne jeg også hoppede i, men jeg har dog heller ikke set beviset for at historien skulle være usand. Reklamer med børn er der lovgivet omkring og et område man skal betræde varsomt da man ubevidst sænker paraderne når der vises babyer og deres mødre for den sags skyld.
    Er filmen et reklamestunt er den efter min mening under lavmålet og jeg vil være endnu mere rystet, hvis den er finansieret af danske skattekroner som Lisbeth hævder.

  • Søren Andersen

    Undskyld mig, men man er sgu da idiot, hvis man hopper på den. Det er SÅ tydeligt, at vi har med viral markedsføring at gøre!

  • http://kim-jensen.dk Kim Jensen

    Undskyldning accepteret.

  • Niels

    Et eller andet sted er det her jo sket lidt mere end et par gange før. Så at i stejler over det nu, fatter jeg virkelig intet af. Her tænker jeg mest på blog indehaveren, der påpeger at det er “forkert” for medier at lege med folks følelser. Det gør de sgu da hele tiden.

  • http://www.nodes.dk/blog/karen26-karendk26-nu-afsl%c3%b8ret/ Karen26 / Karendk26 nu afsløret

    [...] – en svensk avis har ifølge Jonas Klit Nielsen fra Mindjumpers fået mail retur fra danishkaren26@gmail.com om at de skulle følge med på Findize.com Youtube [...]

  • http://www.emme.dk/2009/09/13/dansk-mor-s%c3%b8ger-far-danske-nye-medier-raber-pa-etik/ Dansk mor søger far – danske (nye) medier råber på etik

    [...] nu går på etik. Mindjumpers, der ellers selv deltog i løjerne, var nogen af de første til at spekulerer over, om det var uetisk at lege med folks følelser, idet mange har tilkendegivet deres medfølelse med [...]

  • http://ksottrup@gmail.com kristian s

    @Lisbeth

    Hvis ikke journalisterne gik med på historien, vad der ingen historie. En del af viral mrkt ER at skabe røre=blive omtalt i medierne.

  • Martin Andersen

    i (mindjumpers) skriver om at i er imod denne type reklamer, citat; “In our opinion, social media should not take advantage of people but be used to inspire and connect people around causes that make a difference” alligevel har i ikke fjernet den her video, og score sikkert en masse hits, moral er godt, dobbelt moral er dobbelt så godt..

  • Anonymous

    ihr widerspricht euch

  • eric

    You say that it’s a “shameful attempt to take advantage of peoples emotions just to get attention” — but isn’t that true of every single advertisement you see on TV, or anywhere for that matter? The people who get upset and feel manipulated by this kind of thing don’t really understand what the internet, or social media for that matter, really is. I don’t know how they can step outside without bawling about something before they even reach the curb. Grow up. The internet is a big, messy chaotic mix of ideas; if you’re too weak to handle it, to fragile to learn how to think critically or are simply too lazy to spend time researching and shaking down sources and citations, then don’t even bother logging on.

  • pilot96732

    Advertising executives do not understand nor care (if they do understand) the over-all effect this type of advertising has upon their audience regarding advertising in general. It is true that most viewers will not realize the genesis of this ad. But, the more crassly manipulative they are of their viewers, the more impervious, un-noticing and jaundiced all viewers will be toward their product. They, themselves, are destroying their own markets. Ironic, isn’t it, for people who see themselves as being so talented, to be such utter fools!

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