Janeth over at WPW pointed to a post that seems to indicate that may be the case.

Last Thursday (July 3rd), Coca Cola Brazil launched the drink i9 – Hidrotonico, the Brazilian version of Powerade. As a part of the i9 marketing strategy in blogs & social media, Coca Cola handpicked 9 prominent bloggers, custom made their homepage and gifted them a fancy USB mini fridge with the new product to be tested – a reason to blog about.

The above quote is taken from the Trend Spotting Blog

Advertising or link buying?

Well if you take the “Googly” perspective on this, I think it’s safe to say the bloggers were “paid” for their participation and at least one of them linked directly without tagging the link “nofollow”. That seems meet their criteria for ling “buying/selling”. If you remember, towards the end of 2007, Google got rather aggressive when it came to “paid links” and dinged those who chose not to comply with their “request” on how to handle them.

There are those that will say there is no such thing as “bad” publicity. However, I see this as a “sticky wicket” for both Coca Cola and the “compensated” bloggers that’s yet to unfold. True, Coke has generated a buzz about their product launch and the hand picked bloggers have already received quite a bit of attention from the blogosphere. But will it come back to haunt them? Will there be a reputation backlash for both?

Dave

So for those of you who like Genies (or Jeannie if you prefer ) join in! Perhaps a bit of unexpected luck will fly your way. Here’s how it works…

Don’t be stingy, pass a bit-o-genie-goodness around!

And for my good friend Feydakin, may the Genie King AND the Genie Princess visit you!

Dave

Five things you may not know about CrankyDave

1. I was dubbed CrankyDave by former Chicago Bulls basketball star “Stormin’ Norman” Van Lier .

2. I am an AC/DC fanatic! Even got some AC/DC PJ’s for Christmas! At one time I was the “voice” in a garage band called “FallOut”. Played a lot of classic AC/DC stuff. Go figure.

3. By trade, I’m a master jeweler. While doing traveling jewelry design shows, I had the pleasure of working with a designer who happened to be John Wayne’s niece. Most interesting.

4. I’m a TV nut. Not in the sense that I watch a lot of television, but that I like to have a television in every room of the house. Even have one for outside in my Gazebo. Which reminds me… need to go buy some more cable for the new TV.

5. Flowers, flowers and more flowers. I’m an avid gardener. Vegatable garden every spring and new flowers every year. I’ve currently got a few hundred varieties of flowers and have even tried my hand at hybridizing my own Iris.

Not quite what you may have expected is it?

Now it’s my turn! Hehehehe…

Feydakin My good friend has already been blog tagged but deserves another.

Phil Craven Some of the best debates, discussions, and arguments, I’ve been involved in have been with Phil.

William Cross William is an exceptional coder and owner of SEO Fox. Fess up Will!

Janeth Duque When it comes to web design, you’ll be impressed with her work.

And last, but not least…

Nicky I know precious little about Nicky. Which is precisely why I’m tagging her! Do tell!

Tag! You’re it!

Dave