So as many of you know, two days ago we ran the story that LL Cool J’s clothing brand at Sears was on the way out. Based on insider info. with a confirmed current Sears apparel buyer, we were tipped off that the clothing line would be phased out. Considering the lack of hype behind the brand this news wasn’t too much a shocker to us or to many of the other blogs and websites that ran the story. Before we published the story though we wanted to give Sears the opportunity to refute it…unfortunately all of our attempts to contact a representative were met with no response. We were just some no-named site they didn’t want to deal with.
Only AFTER posting the story and only AFTER various blogs and sites caught the story did Sears decide to respond to us. Their official representative (who I won’t call out because at least he was a professional in dealing with me) e-mailed WoooHa and asked us to retract our story and to post an official statement which they wrote up. That’s fine. I’ve been in public relations long enough to know any good PR rep needs to control the flow of information and proper spin…so I obliged.
Was my source wrong? Is the Sears PR rep just covering? Who knows. What is more important is that Sears realized the power that us hip-hop bloggers really have. It’s time Corporate America and big hot shot companies realize that the voice of the hip-hop nation is found on the net….through little tiny blogs just like mine or through the big boys getting their 100K+ visitors a day. Hip-hop bloggers unite. No matter how big or small you might be…don’t forget the power you wield. Forget Snap! We got the power!
You get em!
Wow I didnt even know Sears was around still – but yes I thnk blogs in general are underestimated by big companies. It would be nice to see them put in their place though
Ive been a publicist and in PR for over twelve years in Corporate America with CPG companies. It is our job to control what is out there and to us many blogs and sites are filled with inaccurate information. We are only doing our jobs but at the same time I do recognize what you mean by this post and understand how fast blogs can make or break a product, person or anything.
Let's start a rumor about a rapper that eats babies. If we can take the career out, then we know WoooHa has hit it big.
CLAIM IT KING!
We deal with the corporate raiders all the time and they still think they are the ones in control of the flow of information. When they gonna realize that we deserve the same respect and have the same influence as any other website? Sometimes it feels like they dont take hip-hop blogs and sites seriously compared to other music sites.