On March 24, Joel Spolsky posted this amusing rant attacking Earthlink for a piece of direct marketing that he considered dishonest. I asked Earthlink for a comment. Yesterday I spoke with Claudia Caplan, vice president for brand marketing, who gave her company's side.
What Earthlink is shooting for in marketing like this, she said, is an “effect of verisimilitude.” That's an interesting way to put it, because “verisimilitude” means the “quality of appearing to be true or real,” according to the dictionary.
Deceptive? I think so.
Unusual? Nope — and that's the sad reality in today's world.
[Dan Gillmor's eJournal]