North Face forced to issue grovelling apology after it was caught editing Wikipedia pages to boost its results on search sites
- The outdoor clothing brand were caught adding model to site’s location photos
- Advertising agency bragged that this would increase searches for the brand
- Made a video that included example of top photo of Brazil’s Guarita State Park
- But they faced consumer backlash when video of the strategy was posted online and customers said they boycott the brand
Its rugged jackets are favoured by the famous – from Prince William to Angelina Jolie. But outdoor clothing firm North Face was under a cloud last night after a marketing stunt backfired.
The fashion brand was forced to make a grovelling apology after it emerged it had digitally altered Wikipedia entries to get free advertising and rocket to the top of Google searches.
North Face exploited the online encyclopaedia’s open-to-all editing function to alter images of popular destinations so they featured models wearing its clothing.
Clothing company North Face and advertising agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made have been slammed for ‘manipulating’ Wikipedia’s free-to-change webpage to include pictures of their models, which boosted their prevalence in search engines
North Face exploited the online encyclopaedia’s open-to-all editing function to alter images of popular destinations so they featured models wearing its clothing
It meant the firm’s pictures would appear at the top of internet search results when Google was used to look for images of top nature sites such as Brazil’s Guarita State Park.
Branding experts believe North Face gained millions of pounds worth of exposure by hijacking the non-profit website.
The stunt ran undetected for almost a month but emerged when advertising agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made released a video last week boasting about its exploits.
But the bragging backfired when angry consumers took to social media to say they would boycott the brand.
Wikipedia blasted North Face for ‘unethical manipulation’ of its website. The clothing company pulled the ad campaign and said: ‘We believe deeply in Wikipedia’s mission and integrity – and apologise for engaging in activity inconsistent with those principles.’
Guarita State Park in Brazil, which had its Wikipedia page edited to have a model wearing the brand’s clothes in the top photo. It went unnoticed for months