Newspapers and media outlets are one thing, but bloggers are a whole different ball game. They are not held to the same standards of ethics or disclosure as we are. They are not held to objectivity as we are, they can tell their opinions as they see fit. If I were Ketchum, I would have seriously warned caution upon ConAgra.
By hiding their true motives, ConAgra was focusing on the tool itself rather than the overall picture. In the book, a veteran blogger suggests "organizations need to zero in on 'the principles behind social media that make it work, like participating in a larger community and not controlling the conversation.'" This would have been definitely possible for ConAgra to do. Ketchum should have suggested, after its cautionary statement, to use full disclosure on the invitation, asking them to participate in a food study regarding ConAgra products. They should have been doing PR before they even sent out the invite. They should have made sure the bloggers didn't feel pressured to write postively or that they were coerced. If ConAgra wanted to continue down the rabbit hole of working with bloggers, they needed to make the bloggers happy. The bloggers were the public during this, and similarly, they betrayed their trust and in return, the publics.
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