Akkam’s Razor

A few posts ago, I blogged about the troubles two of the forums that I read (GMInsideNews and CheersandGears) and the issues that they have had with GM’s marketing department and embargoed material. By embargoed, I mean pictures and details that a manufacturer releases to the press under the condition that they will not print or display it until an agreed upon date.

Now, there are some problems with this, especially as it favors old media and punishes new media. For example, GM is embargoing pictures of the Corvette Z06, intending to premiere it simultaneously at NAIAS as well as in the February print magazines (Car and Driver, Motor Trend, etc.) Paper and postage press most likely already has the pictures, stories written, and cover chosen. However, the new media will not get the pictures until the moment the embargo expires, usually and 12 noon. Foruns that have gotten the pictures through other means and subsequently publish them have been visited by GM Investigators (why even let them in?) and threatened with lawsuits Link#1 Link#2 Link#3 Analysis of photo vs. spy pix

The fundamental mistake in this is that these forums, blogs, and enthusiast sites (almost guaranteed, although I can’t prove it) get more traffic and have more active users than the magazines have subscribers or newstand sales. Plus, these sites offer targeted content that can easily be passed around.

By selectively applying embargoes, GM is making a tremendous mistake. It’s high time for them to let a web site (or the web community) have the exclusive and see what happens.

In the meantime, I have seen the specifications and pictures, and I won’t host them, but I will link to any sites that do have them and track what happens throughout the day.