A Blog by Bob Fiddaman. Birmingham, UK.

Friday, April 30, 2010

AstraZeneca's PR Machine Caught With Their Pants Down!



Image: theworldofhowey.files.wordpress.com



Well, well, well.

It seems AstraZeneca have been caught with their pants down again.

Not long after licking their wounds re the Seroquel debacle, it now appears they have been busted by... wait for it... a blogger.

Deary me pharma. If you are going to monitor those that write about you then make sure you don't make your database publicly available.

1000 shiny stars to Stan who writes the “Is Something Not Quite Right With Stan,” blog.

Jim Edwards of BNet writes:


The database was prepared by v-Fluence, a pr firm employed by AZ. The agency’s chief, Jay Byrne, published a blog item this morning explaining why drug companies monitor web coverage. Big Food conspiracy theorists can look here for more information on Byrne, a former director of public affairs for Monsanto.


It seems they are now accusing Stan of 'hacking' into their database. Hmmmm. About as believable as the safety and efficacy of Seroquel!

Stepheny, who writes the Soulful Sepulcher blog has a rant about AstraZeneca and Jay Byrne here. It seems that both AstraZeneca and Jay Byrne have been all over her blog today.


Reminds me of a special report the MHRA had commissioned to basically see how their image was on the Internet. I'll give them their dues though, they actually went public with it and didn't put it on a dodgy database that could be opened with the blink of an eye.

This one goes out to V-Fluence, the PR company that are paid to track what bloggers are writing about the pharmaceutical industry.

Thanks for the balls-up - you have made me laugh for the first time today.



Stan, take a bow sir. I salute you.

Stan's blog can be found HERE, his leading story is 'v-Fluence responds to hacking by blogger - v-fluence ties to BIG Pharma'




Fid

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7 comments:

  1. I'm LMAO Fid,

    Thanks by way!

    I hope your not expecting dinner, drinks, or any special extra curricular activities for this lol.....

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  2. My meat and two veg are securely locked away Stan... unlike the database of v-Fluence :-)

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  3. Truthman3011:03 PM

    This is priceless, great post on v influence too stan, love the web shot's too, it seems that this v influence crew are little more than spies for the pharmaceutical machine, how sad for them to have to do such a scummy job! .. Who the hell do they think they are anyhow, the stazi?.. Creeps.. Well done stan for exposing these low lifes.. And the way i see it is, you leave a cyber door open.. Then technicaly it's free for anyone to stumble into, and also considering the deeply sinister behaviour of AZ and V influence (which sounds like a third rate hip hop crew when you word it) really what are they getting their knickers in a twist about?.. I suppose maybe they feel a bit vulnerable now that their pants are around their ankles.. Their sneaky tactics are below contemptable and their methods are akin to fascists... Keeping files on critics of their medicines, who do they think they are.. stalin? big brother is right.. I say well done to anyone who exposes this shit.. Oh and i had similar views from the usual suspects myself when i started my blog.. Haven't looked at my web stats in a while though. Keep on bloging lads.. :)

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  4. LOL

    They even have a Facebook and Twitter page!

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  5. This is a brilliant post Fid, God I laughed so hard out loud, HA HA!

    Love the way they try to pull the Clinton "I did not have sex with that woman" stunt, all the while they are caught, embarrassed at their lack of skills, and try to focus the guilt on someone else.

    AstraZeneca better hire someone else!

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  6. Truthman303:26 AM

    Oh this gets even better.. I just googled ' v fluence'.. And guess what ? Your blog ' seroxat sufferers' comes up third on a direct word search of ' v fluence on google!.. Now how's that for irony! .. It seems that these hired spies are not so au fait with the power of blogs on the internet after all... They seem to have overlooked the fact that us bloggers have been doing this stuff for a long time, and one thing we really don't like is other bloggers being attacked for voicing their opinions.. We especially don't like when slimy corporations and their PR slaves attempt to silence us.. And one more thing.. The truth has a resonance, sincerity has depth, karma has a weight , it's felt in the gut, lies are transparent and propaganda stinks... And no amount of PR spin or pharmaceutical deception will ever change that...

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  7. Well spoken Truthman30, those days of frenzied tussles @ FS appear to be over.

    Now the greed mongers and spin wizards come knocking upon our doors, demanding to look inside and to rummage through our closets.

    Seems they have ignored the no soliciting sign.

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Thanks for your input!