AngusChak

In class today we talked about SOPA, PIPA and some of the websites that are participating in a blackout as a sign of protest against the bill. We mentioned how many smaller websites have two reasons in participating in the blackout. The big reason is that the two bills would greatly affect them and potentially force them to shutdown. The second reason is positive marketing they get when a media
source groups them with the  behemoths such as Wikipedia.

This got me thinking about the other side of this. If the companies who are protesting this are receiving positive marketing, then are the companies who are supporting SOPA and PIPA receiving negative marketing? I came across the photo that showed many of the popular brands whom are supporting the bill and I don’t think that they are. Some of them possess strong enough brand power that they aren’t afraid of losing customers from supporting the bill, such as Burberry and Coach. Others have a strong enough value proposition that regardless of what customers think, they will still buy the products such as EA with their sports games.

Having said that, GoDaddy, the web host provider, lost thousands of subscribers to their competitor when they said they supported SOPA. They have now reserved their position but the damage has been done. Though I actually lost even more respect for them since they reserved their decision so quickly.

Final thoughts:  President Obama recently declared that he is opposed to SOPA. Do you think he is actually against the bill or was he advised to say it as a marketing ploy to try to generate supporters in the upcoming election year? 

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