Edelman's Walmart Mess

By Li Evans

updated:  This has FINALLY hit Techmeme, thanks in part to a post on Shel Holtz' blog.  I'm surprised that Scoble's post didn't make it hit Techmeme first.

The silence is deafening.  So much so, Edelman is now ranking #4 on Technorati for searches today.  Why?  Because as one of the companies that "gets it" when it comes to blogging and reputation management on the Internet, right now appears as if they don't get it.

Whatever is going on with their client, Walmart, they have to realize now that it is doing more damage to Edelman than to the big box giant.  After Walmart's last blogosphere fiasco, no one is really surprised about this fake blog ("flog") - although a lot of people are talking about it (here's just a sampling).

• Blog Business Summit
• BusinessWeek
• LexBlog
• BlogWrite for CEOs
• PR Meets the WWW
• Editor & Publisher
• SparkPlug9
• i-boy

Everyone's waiting to hear from Edelman.  What is the explanation for this apparent "flog"?  Steve Rubel (disclaimer: I'm a big fan of Steve's blog Micro Persuasion) has been incredibly silent, which has a lot of people wondering just what the heck is going on.  Steve's usually the first one to report on these types of issues in the blogosphere, and now that this has happened with his employer, a lot of people are asking "Where's Steve on this?"

Walmart's got a reputation problem in the blogosphere, they obviously just don't get it at all.  That is why they hired Edelman.  There's things about the blogosphere as a company you need to understand but at the top of the list, you need to real & upfront.  Walmart keeps trying to manipulate the blogosphere, and it's backfired every time.  This time, along with backfiring at Walmart, it's backfired right at Edelman.

searchmob | sniff it

Related: More Walmart Flogs Written By Edelman Employees, Reflections: Edelam, WalMart & Flogs