Consumers bite back

One of the great pitfalls of working for too long in marketing is that of believing the hype. We can so easily fall in love with "our" idea that we end up like the monarch in the Emperor's New Clothes (or, worse, like the tailors).

But in the world of the net, consumers can organise their resistance. And hype will be quickly dismissed - often with a spirited counterblast. The critics may be harsh and sometimes unfair. But the fact that they now have a powerful way to voice their views changes how marketing works.

Here are a few examples.

notgoodenough.org Aussie site for publicising - and sometimes resolving - complaints

badpension.com A sharp satire on opaque charging in financial services

yours is a bad hotel Complaining-by-powerpoint

kodak's toxic colors Environmental challenge to image-making

btopenwoe Where customers keep each other posted on the shortcomings of BT Openworld

nthellworld The NTL version of openwoe - with one interesting difference. The site is now owned by NTL. For a while, they used it to help keep themselves on their toes - sadly, they've lost their nerve and just point to conventional customer services

what's in toothpaste one man's fight against the questionable claims of the manufacturers

starbuckscocacolagap A musical counterblast against the brute force branding (takes a while to dowload on a regular connection)

adbusters a US site organising resistance to unethical marketing

McSpotlight on McDonalds