My theory that Lindsay Lohan's $100 million suit against E*Trade is really a publicity stunt collaboration between the paparazzi magnet and the online stock trading firm got further confirmation this past week when E*Trade continued to run the advertisement that purportedly sparked the suit. If the suit were real, then I strongly suspect E*Trade's lawyers would have advised the company to refrain from running it until the issue was settled. But no, the company continued to run the ad. Is that because it knew it wasn't risking anything because it couldn't lose a law suit that wasn't real in the first place?
Meanwhile, AdAge reports that the controversy delivered 3 million online views for the E*Trade spot.
If this turns out to be a big hoax, it will do significant damage to both brands. Backroom deals may have worked in the mass media age when the individual was powerless, but won't fly in a digital era where social media empowers the average Joe.
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