I'm posting this for discussion (please use talk page) and editing by Wikipedia editors. Because of the media's limited attention span, I propose that we edit and sign this open letter quickly, say edit it within 6 hours (0:00 UTC April 18, 2017), and then leave it open for signing until 16:00 UTC April 18, when I will send it out to the listed firms and to other media. Notice this is a statement of the individual editors, not of the entire community (that type of open letter would take forever to process).
Thanks for any help.
Smallbones( smalltalk) 17:12, 17 April 2017 (UTC)
Restating from above, as requested, the undersigned editors do not necessarily represent the views of the Wikimedia Foundation or of the entire community of Wikipedia editors, but of their own views. Smallbones( smalltalk) 00:39, 18 April 2017 (UTC)
The following open letter has been sent to Burger King, RPI, 3G Capital, The Verge and Vox Media, and to some other media companies (e-mailing continues). Please do not modify this page. Smallbones( smalltalk) 16:57, 18 April 2017 (UTC)
Open letter to Burger King, Restaurant Brands International, 3G Capital, The Verge, and Vox Media
We, the undersigned Wikipedia editors, have noticed that Burger King created an advertising campaign that involved the insertion of ad copy into Wikipedia by corporate employees. Burger King then broadcast an ad on television intended to activate Google Home to read text from the adulterated Wikipedia article in the TV viewers' homes.
Burger King broke several Wikipedia rules in the campaign. No editor may insert advertising, marketing, or promotional material into any article. Our terms of use require all paid editors to prominently post the fact that they are paid, the person or company paying them, and any other relevant affiliations. Our conflict-of-interest guideline strongly discourages editors with a conflict-of-interest from directly editing an article, though they may propose suggestions on the talk page.
The facts include:
Media coverage of the campaign mentioned that the ingredient list was vandalized. We would like to stress that on the day the ad was released Wikipedians removed the vandalism extremely quickly. It appears that the most serious disruption was caused by The Verge the day before the ad was released.
Wikipedia's content is managed by unpaid volunteers supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization that helps us develop and distribute free educational content. The English language Wikipedia is viewed about 8 billion times each month. [2] Unfortunately this attracts unethical advertisers, such as Burger King, to put hidden ads into our articles. We believe that these actions are harmful to our readers and our mission of providing high quality and neutral information to all people.
We demand that:
{{u|
Checkingfax}} {
Talk}
10:53, 19 April 2017 (UTC)I'm posting this for discussion (please use talk page) and editing by Wikipedia editors. Because of the media's limited attention span, I propose that we edit and sign this open letter quickly, say edit it within 6 hours (0:00 UTC April 18, 2017), and then leave it open for signing until 16:00 UTC April 18, when I will send it out to the listed firms and to other media. Notice this is a statement of the individual editors, not of the entire community (that type of open letter would take forever to process).
Thanks for any help.
Smallbones( smalltalk) 17:12, 17 April 2017 (UTC)
Restating from above, as requested, the undersigned editors do not necessarily represent the views of the Wikimedia Foundation or of the entire community of Wikipedia editors, but of their own views. Smallbones( smalltalk) 00:39, 18 April 2017 (UTC)
The following open letter has been sent to Burger King, RPI, 3G Capital, The Verge and Vox Media, and to some other media companies (e-mailing continues). Please do not modify this page. Smallbones( smalltalk) 16:57, 18 April 2017 (UTC)
Open letter to Burger King, Restaurant Brands International, 3G Capital, The Verge, and Vox Media
We, the undersigned Wikipedia editors, have noticed that Burger King created an advertising campaign that involved the insertion of ad copy into Wikipedia by corporate employees. Burger King then broadcast an ad on television intended to activate Google Home to read text from the adulterated Wikipedia article in the TV viewers' homes.
Burger King broke several Wikipedia rules in the campaign. No editor may insert advertising, marketing, or promotional material into any article. Our terms of use require all paid editors to prominently post the fact that they are paid, the person or company paying them, and any other relevant affiliations. Our conflict-of-interest guideline strongly discourages editors with a conflict-of-interest from directly editing an article, though they may propose suggestions on the talk page.
The facts include:
Media coverage of the campaign mentioned that the ingredient list was vandalized. We would like to stress that on the day the ad was released Wikipedians removed the vandalism extremely quickly. It appears that the most serious disruption was caused by The Verge the day before the ad was released.
Wikipedia's content is managed by unpaid volunteers supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization that helps us develop and distribute free educational content. The English language Wikipedia is viewed about 8 billion times each month. [2] Unfortunately this attracts unethical advertisers, such as Burger King, to put hidden ads into our articles. We believe that these actions are harmful to our readers and our mission of providing high quality and neutral information to all people.
We demand that:
{{u|
Checkingfax}} {
Talk}
10:53, 19 April 2017 (UTC)