Coal company Xstrata threatens Mumbrella with defamation action over This Is Our Story spoof
One of the coal companies supporting the This is Our Story campaign to promote the Australian mining industry has threatened Mumbrella with defamation action after we reported that a pastiche video has been published.
Mumbrella reported that the ad had been created on behalf of the alternative This Is The Real Story campaign, which is backed by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
Less than two hours after publishing the story we received the following letter from XStrata Coal:
I refer to the video titled “Ad pastiches mining industry’s ‘This is our story’ campaign” published on your website:
Glass jaw much?
Wow, xstrata don’t seem to get it. Quite a good lol for a Friday afternoon!
glass jaw indeed! So disappointing a company would look to threaten a news/industry organisation that publishes a parody of them (not even MAKES a parody of them, but just publishes someone else’s!).
thanks Mumbrella for not toally bowing to the pressure and keeping the clip as a link. I wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.
Mums really unhappy that the Xstrata legal team now appear to be shilling for Greenpeace by raising the profile of this topic.
But then again mum doesn’t use the internet. Those “cookie” things freak the shit out of her.
TL;DR
Xtrata – http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr.....r5dikw.gif
Mumbrella – http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgen.....i_give.jpg
I can’t think of a course of action more inclined to boost the number of views of this video to well above 8000. Well done Xstrata, excellent promotion of the video you don’t want anyone to see.
well done Mumbrell, hope this can generate more hit on the VIDEO
Well! I will not be buying my coal from them in the future!
Superb example of the Streisand effect*.. !
* in case Xstrata Coal haven’t heard of that : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
It’s a bizarre claim. Looks like a failed attempt at intimidation to chill debate, with the real impact being the exact opposite.
Screw X-Strata – its a parody and like they give a damn about their employee featured in the ad. The day they no longer need him they’ll give him the flick as all companies do.
I’m sick of mining companies thinking they represent Australia.. We elected politicians to represent us – not these goddam huge mining companies.
They should make the mining tax larger
See,
now I just want to watch the video that I saw the story for earlier in the day and thought ‘meh’.
When I find out that the letter was just a bit of anti-coal astro turfing to boost their views I’ll probably have to nominate it for a pencil or a lion or a crown.
Does advertising do crowns?
Wouldn’t it be great if advertising did swords and you won the right to wear a sword on your belt?
Yes, hipster creatives, a belt for your slack-arse jeans. Imagine walking into a pitch with a sword on – talk about impressive. Hi client *swashbuckling movement* I’m a knight of creativity: bow before my magnificence and while you’re there sign this expense account so I can go and play skeet ball.
Advertising should do crowns AND swords.
Who’s with me?
If the moderator of this comment thread had any gumption (that’s right, I said gumption) he or she would follow up my comment with an immediate “we should totally do swords” comment.
It’s been a long day and Dyson Vacuum Cleaners making difficult places easier to clean is not as much fun as Google + letting you share the right information with the right people. Sorry for the ramble but all the AWARDies will get what I mean.
And totes do the swords thing.
That’s plain dumb.
*** Paging JB. Now is your time to shine! ***
Barbara Streisand effect anyone?
Wow totally missed previous comment, will slink away into shadows….
Pity, that was the only mining ad I’ve managed to sit all the way through without throwing something at the screen.
Let’s wait to see the barbra streisand effect in action – love it!
Slighly off-piste . . but Xstrata is a brilliant name . . isn’t it?
If the lawyer is so stupid he thinks Mumbrella can remove the video from You Tube then he’s not much of a threat. That Xstrata employ him says more about them than the video anyway.
Tim Burrowes…you’re my hero.
Publisher gets letter from lawyer. Just another day for a publisher then. Hardly news worthy is it?
@Morry – It is a rather wonderful name for an investigative journalist, isn’t it? Other suitable career choices could have been proctologist, excavator or rabbit.
As in Ex-strata aka lock the gates campaign?
Trouble with this is these guys would happily spend $100k on a court case. My guess is $100k would close most small publishers. It’s corporate bullying of the worst kind.
Thank you to Xstrata’s lawyers for bringing this to my attention, and thereby to the attention of my 4,700 Twitter followers, their 1.9 million followers and their 64 million followers.
Your support for parody on the Internet is noted.
We should totally do swords.
I’m all for swashbuckling and swords.
I’d go a step further. Creatives should have medals for the ‘campaigns’ they do. Strategy, penetration, campaigns, officers, offensives… It’s all very military. Why stop there tho?
Let’s them march down George st for the wives they lost, the kids they hardly know and the weekends they sacrificed. And honour them with the blog post, the trumpet call for the digital age. While they’re on night watch valiantly fighting for creativity in a world of accountants, it will make them feel that something they did was worthwhile.
Because nothing is more noble than the creative, who literally sacrifices his life for the mediocrity of the impossible to please.
And like Beau, I won’t be buying coal from them either 🙂
See, that’s why I’m clearly just at AWARD school level.
Only a true creative would drill down into the idea far enough to come up with an ANZAC march for creatives. Equating sitting in an office being told “no” with being shot at by Turkish machine guns. Genius. No wonder you don’t need a belt for your pants.
Maybe we should have an Easter for creatives as well. “For the ECD so loved the Idea that he sacrificed his only junior creative team.” All the suits could hand out chocolate iPads.
Most of us are too busy for a 4 day celebration. Better to make it a single day, probably Christmas day as we’re expected to work on ‘debriefs’ (or work hard to make our work worse) every other day of the year.
I really dont understand why coal companies need to protect their images? I mean.. really. It’s not like they will ever be clean in the eyes of the rabid greenies, and the people who buy it don’t really have an option to go to another fuel.
They should take a leaf from the American Express book of public relations: keep quiet unless absolutely necessary.
I don’t think individuals as such buy raw coal anymore do they?. Mostly I think China uses it in their power stations. However Tony Simms will be pleased to know I am burning some of it’s by-products to keep warm in Cornwall.
I think when your original ad does nothing except say “See we do actually employ REAL people and this is one of them…” then you open yourself up to parody – which i think remains the highest art form in the history of space and time.
Well done Manufacturers, Charles Firth, Mumbrella and everyone else who supports a laugh at people with lots of money.
Love a good legal letter of intimidation. What a load of garbage. Mumbrella, on the face of it, you are well within your rights on this one. Go for it.
what newbies might like to reference as the Streisand effect has been PR 101 for the last century – ie never sue or threaten to sue or send nasty legal letters to media outlets because they will invariably backfire and be used against you by that media outlet and others because
a) seeking to prevent the publication of criticism prima facie proves its truth
b) the cover-up is newsworthy in and of itself
c) you offend all journalist’s belief that they aren’t accountable to anyone
The parody is approaching 25k views now…
Ha! Great parody, but what’s the point. How much coal was used to make that parody video, just as much as the original video I’d wager. The sad thing is we all need coal to live the comfortable lives we live..
You’re a LEGEND Tim!
lol just watched the video that Xstrata didnt want me to see…….its not even accurate about the situation, why would you care.
Sheep who are influenced by this video arent worth trying to convince that mining does a lot for Australia so whats the point of trying to close down an entirely legal parody?
@Kate. Do you have an alliance with X Strata?
Score another one for their Corporate Affairs GM. Met her at one of their ‘community functions’ and let’s say Mumbrella making mention of the parody is the least of Xstrata’s concerns right now. Such heavy-handed nonsensical tactics without any consideration of how our industry or the community may respond? What a shock. Well done Tim.
Strategically stupid move.
They should stick to something that they are good at – like tax avoidance. Failing that, try mining coal.
That would be a SLAPP in the face.
Although it does appear that Xstrata won here?
Video is down.