Your Viral Campaign May Need a Sarbanes Oxley Lawyer

There are many more examples where a marketer's "secret" word of mouth effort became a PR disaster. So it isn't something generally recommended.

But still, it will be enough for the lawyers to stifle any word of mouth effort without a full "brought to you by BRAND NAME" disclosure. Which in turn will stifle the creativity, which will stifle the impact of the program.

From AdAge:

U.K. Cracks
Down on Word-of-Mouth With Tough Restrictions

Coming Legislation Makes It a Criminal Offense for Brands to Falsely Represent Themselves as Consumers

Word-of-mouth marketing in the U.K. will face radical restrictions starting May 26, when it will become a criminal offense for brands to seed positive messages online without making the origin of the message clear. Brand owners will face fines or even prison sentences if they contravene the consumer-protection regulations. The legislation came into force across Europe on Jan. 1, 2008, and is set to begin in the U.K. next month.