Blogs have exploded on the media scene because they’re easy, they’re affordable, they’re instant, and they allow for a level of connection (two-content flow) that most other media simply don’t.

Of course, blogs are capable of doing great things, but for the marketer, they’re also potential vehicles of doom.

Sure, mention the blogging hall of shame and the Edelmann/WalMart and Sony PS3 flog fiascos leap to mind, but Robert Passilhoff of Chief Marketer moves beyond them to create an aptly named new category of deceptive blog: the Shlog.

What’s a Shlog? It’s not a fake blog, it’s a sham blog. Passilhoff provides an excellent example:

Officially Ms. Couric’s “Notebook“ is a blog, since it gets regularly updated. It’s not a flog, since the agent of the message doesn’t misrepresent who it is, identifying Ms. Couric as the titleholder of the blog. But–and here’s where I bring this back to my remark in the second paragraph–Ms. Couric doesn’t actually write the blog. It’s a sham, hence the term “shlog.” (That was the term I came up with trying to find something that was in the spirit of the “flog” nomenclature, but I welcome more-creative suggestions.)

Of course, he’s referring to Katie Couric’s widely reported “personal notebook” entry, which — despite being billed as a highly personal story shared by Couric — turned out to be an essay plagirized from another source by a CBS producer.

Lovely stuff, and a great big black eye for Couric and CBS.

The Moral of the story? The Fifth Rule of the Engagement Principles is “Be Authentic.” If you’re not, people will know. And you’ll enjoy a “negative marketing event” you’ll not soon forget.

Technorati Tags: blog, blogging, katie couric, shlog, flog