Dan Janal

Dan Janal
Marketing Speaker

Google certainly got a lot of PR recently when it announced it would paste user’s comments and pictures on its ads.

The outrage from the media and Facebook users was immediate. I must admit I was disgusted initially by the apparent violation of privacy and intrusion into personal affairs.

Then I re-thought the proposition.

Doesn’t everyone want to be famous?
Doesn’t everyone want to be the star of a TV commercial? I know I harbored a dream of living off the royalties for saying “Aflac” in my best duck voice.

Isn’t everyone making a YouTube video and hoping it will go viral?

Isn’t every third person you meet writing a book and trying to get on “Oprah?”

Google might be doing someone – in fact many people – a great service by associating them with products and brands they enjoy.

Like a movie? Wouldn’t it be cool if your friends looked for a review and saw your smiling face with a thumbs up?

Want to be known as a trendsetter? Then post a review for the hottest restaurant.

Of course, if you review things that future employers might consider “conduct unbecoming” that could be a problem. I’d suggest you stay away from products you or potential clients might find embarrassing.

Who knows, you might become the next Clara Peller!

Note to people born after 1980. She’s the old lady who made a fortune by appearing in a Wendy’s commercial with the classic line, “Where’s the beef?”