In a recent Adweek article, Hunter College professor Stuart Ewen criticizes a viral campaign created by students at Hunter College for a class project. This successful campaign featured Heidi Cee, who was duped into paying a reward for her lost handbag that wasn’t hers. Instead, it was a knock-off. Using MySpace and Facebook, Heidi begins a quest to find this dishonest person and inform everyone who will listen about the horrors and dangers of counterfeiters. She hosts events on campus and even creates a YouTube video.

But something is rotten in Denmark. On May 16, 2007, Heidi confesses that she is not a real person but a class project that was sponsored by Coach and the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. Here’s where it gets interesting.

Soon after the campaign was over, Professor Ewen (who did not teach the class) was shocked to learn that this course was sponsored by an outside organization. So much so, that he filed a complaint Hunter’s senate academic freedom committee. But that wasn’t enough. To combat this immoral education, Ewen embarked on a PR campaign of his own. On February 15, 2008, he hosted a seminar (which he helped organize) called “Where the Truth Lies: A Symposium on Propaganda Today.” And today - ONE YEAR LATER - he continues to promote his indignation in news articles and blogs. As well as the aforementioned Adweek article.

So, let me see if I get this right. Last year, Hunter College offered a course where college kids were given financing and an opportunity to create a program for a real client with a real problem which can give them real world results and experience. And this is bad because…?

It seems to me that Ewen, a self-proclaimed expert on PR, either doesn’t understand how the real world works or… maybe he does.

By the way, his book, PR! A Social History of Spin, is available at a bookstore near you.

Technorati Tags: viral campaign, Heidi Cee, International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition

Filed under: Advertising, Education, Personal Opinions, Product Placement