Loft invited bloggers to attend a sneak peak of their Summer 2010 collection before public release.
"Bloggers who attend will receive a special gift, and those who post coverage from the event will be entered in a mystery gift card drawing where you can win up to $500 at LOFT!"
The fine print explained an unusual catch: the bloggers who went to the event would have to send their posts back to Loft's publicist within 24 hours — and then she would reveal what value of gift card they had won. The minimum card value was $50.
And aside from the Los Angeles Times blog calling attention to the attempted bribery, that coverage has been overwhelmingly positive. And almost none of the bloggers who typed write-ups and posted grainy cell-phone photos disclosed their financial relationship with Ann Taylor. A gift card might not be the most liquid form of currency, but it certainly has monetary value — and $500 is no small sum.
And under recently revised Federal Trade Commission regulations, any online writer who fails to mention the receipt of freebies that might have swayed his or her coverage of a product is liable for fines of up to $11,000. (Now if only we could have such a regulation governing the print media.)
Of these bloggers, only two — Hopkins and My Life On And Off The Guest List's Zia — mentioned the gift cards.
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