Mommyblogs, advertising, corporate whores. As usual.

So there was this.

This is pretty much the worst thing ever. 

OK, maybe not ever, but certainly the worst thing to hit the women's blogosphere. Way to drink that Kool-Aid, ladies.

I'm not going to derail into a tirade about the irresponsibility and naivete of these misguided individuals and the evilness that is HFCS, lobbyists, corn subsidies, sugar tariffs, and GMO crops.  Some other time, perhaps.

I'm not generally a fan of mommyblogs.  Besides the inane prattling about the 14,709 pictures of junior's latest block stacking conquest, a lot of them force products down your throat.

I wouldn't have so much of a problem with the product whoring if it was the bloggers themselves approaching companies with a, "Hey, I really like your thing.  I'm going to write about it, 'kay?"  Hell, I've done a couple of product endorsements myself.  But no, companies actually have people whose job it is to contact bloggers and social media-related people and ask them to push their wares.  In return the bloggers may get paid money or free product.  Many of the bloggers will use the free product for a giveaway, thus increasing their blog's popularity.  Does a giveaway mean these bloggers retain their integrity?

Not in my book.

They are being paid in goods or cash by a company.  They are, to be perfectly frank (it's what I do), corporate whores.  Whether they're offering up a good, bad, or indifferent review of something, they are still providing advertisement for a company at a fraction of the cost of traditional ad.

"But PPC," you will sneer, "I've seen you put your name in on some of these giveaways!  You're a hypocrite for supporting the very people you revile!"  And I say to you: damn right I want a free KitchenAid Mixer.  If the Pioneer Woman wants to give me one, that's great.  If she's getting them gratis from KitchenAid she's still a corporate whore.  And I still despise that shit.  But if the Pioneer Woman decides tomorrow that all her giveaways are going out the window, it doesn't affect my life in any way.  And besides, it's not the people I have a problem with (unless they're homophobes, bigots, or misogynists as well -- then I hate their guts and hope they lose an eye or a limb), it's their actions.  Semantics, baby.

And thus she spake her judgement upon the bloggers.