‘What were they thinking?’ TV station uses earthquake coverage to sell ads
A Singapore-based TV station e-mailed advertisers on Friday, shortly after the Japanese quake, urging them to book ad spots ‘now!’ The station has apologized.
On Friday, mere hours after the massive earthquake struck Japan, Singapore-based news station MediaCorp sent an e-mail to advertisers that said:
“Be a Part of Channel NewsAsia’s Breaking News Coverage on the Japan Tsunami
“Channel NewsAsia: Massive Tsunami Hits Japan after Massive Quake
A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake shook Japan in the early afternoon today, unleashing a powerful tsunami that wrecked havoc [sic] along the streets of coastal towns. Book your spots in the Weekday Evening News Bundle as the channel brings viewers comprehensive coverage reports on the disaster with extended versions of news bulletins tonight.
“… Call our sales representatives now!”
The blogger Mr. Brown shared that e-mail with his readers.
Benjamin Koe, of social media monitoring firm JamiQ, told Singapore’s The Straights Times:
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