Thoughts on Amazon?

[CPotter]

Hey everyone,

 

What are your thoughts around Amazon? They've expressed interest in partnering with us to create sponsored content. We've already told them that the only ways we would engage would be if the community is open to it, and if the video concept is something more fun - something akin to an AMD Ultimate Upgrade.

[Tan3l6]

The previous Futurama episode predicted the future already. Have to bow down.

 Seriously though, why not get decent reviews of stuff... Amazon is a megacorporation after all.

[tkitch]

Assuming the normal standards still apply, everyone knows the issues surrounding Amazon already.

 

So getting a sponsored video of their stuff wouldn't be that bad.

[Emperor Numerius]

i thinkit would be a great idea if done properly.
Amazon ultimate office upgrade?

maybe we can get a tour of Jeff Bezos's setup

 

[Needfuldoer]

I don't see a problem with that.

[BeefSupreme]

It's Amazon, there's not much to say that people don't already know. As far as I'm concerned, this seems like a great opportunity to use some of that big Amazon-sponsor money to do something really fun and exciting!

[AndreiArgeanu]

Besides them being a mega corporation, and some shady practices/amazon warehouses, there isn't much to say. I order stuff from them, I have amazon prime. I wouldn't really care about a sponsorship.

[matt0725]

amazon is fine. any company that size has some black spots, but LTT may as well take their money if theyre offering it. I think you guys have enough ethics to drop them if anything egregious goes down.

[Thibaultmol]

I personally try to avoid Amazon whenever possible. But I agree with the other people in the thread:

People generally know the problems of Amazon and a lot of people seem to be okay with that. 

- people that shop at Amazon will keep shopping at Amazon

- people that actively avoid Amazon when possible (like Luke Lafriendo and myself) will continue to do so

[mMontana]

The Empire of Evil. Sort of. The second company after Disney to receive that definition.

 

You're looking for a Weyland Yutani prodrome? Amazon is the candidate.

[FakeNSA]

While I understand the community frustration around working with companies with less than exceptional employee records, my main concern with sponsors is, as always, if the content is misleading.

If LTT was sponsored to walk around a DC and show everyone's (forced) smiling faces, that would be one thing: however, if you were using the sponsorship as a vehicle to show off cool tech or facilitate other interesting content (like IETU), I don't think there is any problem with it.

 

If a consumer chooses to use Amazon as a result of the sponsorship, they will be treated well by their service/support (at least in my experience), so promoting them doesn't seem to come into conflict with the ethical standards that LTT has previously established.

[Agall]

3 hours ago, CPotter said:

Hey everyone,

 

What are your thoughts around Amazon? They've expressed interest in partnering with us to create sponsored content. We've already told them that the only ways we would engage would be if the community is open to it, and if the video concept is something more fun - something akin to an AMD Ultimate Upgrade.

 

In reality, I could care who LTT takes money from, could be the Saudis or CCP for all I care (genuinely). Just put out good content that isn't bias (or wrong).

 

I don't like Amazon as a company, but feel free to take their money. I personally don't see sponsorships as an endorsement of an organization, but simply an acceptable money:platforming exchange.

[Skipple]

I don't think there is any issue with accepting money from them. Everyone is already well informed on the company and chooses whether or not to do business with them. However, be prepared for those coming in after the fact shrieking about union busting. 

[KingJustin123]

On 8/29/2023 at 5:27 PM, CPotter said:

Hey everyone,

 

What are your thoughts around Amazon? They've expressed interest in partnering with us to create sponsored content. We've already told them that the only ways we would engage would be if the community is open to it, and if the video concept is something more fun - something akin to an AMD Ultimate Upgrade.

 

Personally, I can see no issues with building a sponsorship with Amazon, most people in the world know who they are and what they do, I see no harm in taking their money if they are offering it, like previous comments say, most people are already well informed on amazon, making their own decision. 

[weez]

F Amazon. Now with that said, please take their money if it's for something cool. LMG taking Amazon money isn't going to get me to get a prime subscription or to spend my money on Amazon only. But if it gets you all a cool video, hell yeah

[Leksi T]

I wouldn't mind at all to see Amazon money in LMG hands, but to see anything vaguely or remotely like an endorsement from LMG for Amazon would negatively affect my opinion of LMG.

 

If Amazon is willing to sponsor a video that has very little in the way of actual promotion, it might work.  Maybe if they have a new tool or feature of their site they want mentioned, but no recommendation or opinions.  Maybe if they have a free trial for returning and new users, with easy cancellation, while mentioning said feature would make such a deal feasible?

 

But that's an incredibly fine line to walk, and only matters if many others have opinions very close to mine.

[Darknighterror]

I would not be happy to see a sponsored video by a company thats well known for union busting (like amazon is)

[saintlouisbagels]

Honestly, get that bag.

What's a tiny community like LTT gonna do to affect Amazon's bottom line? Make that money and expand the labs.

[mMontana]

1 minute ago, saintlouisbagels said:

What's a tiny community like LTT gonna do to affect Amazon's bottom line?

Potter wrote...

"They've expressed interest in partnering with us to create sponsored content."

Amazon is exploring the possibility that audience from LTT are gonna affect the company.

[FlyingPotato_is_taken]

Issue I have with Amazon is they don't care about laws and ethics as long as they can get away with.

 

First they leaked my personal data to China sellers and very bad handling the situation. Going from read this none sense page (dozen of times) to finally sharing what should have been shared but than having no good answer on how the other details leaked out. To make it worse they straight up went on record that I wouldn't be informed about the findings regardless of what they are. That's a clear violation of the DSGVO  and shows that Amazon policy, apparently, is to not inform about data leaks!

After this I deleted my account/data but they still send me advertisement/newsletters for amazon business. Inquired about what data they have saved the response was nothing which is obviously a wrong. The second response was still a nothing which is not the truth: you can't send a personalized email without personal data.

First case could probably be won but the second violation would be an easy case as there is not much to argue about (if I would have wanted to go down the road).

 

 

They also don't care at all about product safety:  You can report that they sell dangerous products with proof and the product stays online. You can even report that they list a product for sale which already has a RAPEX entry and Amazon does nothing.

You can also report impersonation of Amazon support done by sellers and Amazon does nothing. 

 

 

@CPotterIf you would like, I can DM you the  name, email address, and some other details so you can follow up on this with your Amazon representative.

 

They probably still have all of the communication in their archive (everything happened within the last 3-9 months). From the very limited real conversation I feel like you won't have much luck due to all the internal amazon polices and how they are structed. For example customer service can't get information from other departments and instead of addressing the issue/answering the questions it was imported for the employee (not front line; higher up) to make to point out that she might issue additional training/sanction to the employees for the initial responses.

[CPotter]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, we really appreciate it. We're going to see what kinds of things they want to do with us, and proceed cautiously from there. If we can come up with something that'll make for good content, and isn't pushy from the promotional side, we'll likely do it.

 

On 9/3/2023 at 7:13 AM, FlyingPotato_is_taken said:

Issue I have with Amazon is they don't care about laws and ethics as long as they can get away with.

 

First they leaked my personal data to China sellers and very bad handling the situation. Going from read this none sense page (dozen of times) to finally sharing what should have been shared but than having no good answer on how the other details leaked out. To make it worse they straight up went on record that I wouldn't be informed about the findings regardless of what they are. That's a clear violation of the DSGVO  and shows that Amazon policy, apparently, is to not inform about data leaks!

After this I deleted my account/data but they still send me advertisement/newsletters for amazon business. Inquired about what data they have saved the response was nothing which is obviously a wrong. The second response was still a nothing which is not the truth: you can't send a personalized email without personal data.

First case could probably be won but the second violation would be an easy case as there is not much to argue about (if I would have wanted to go down the road).

 

 

They also don't care at all about product safety:  You can report that they sell dangerous products with proof and the product stays online. You can even report that they list a product for sale which already has a RAPEX entry and Amazon does nothing.

You can also report impersonation of Amazon support done by sellers and Amazon does nothing. 

 

 

@CPotterIf you would like, I can DM you the  name, email address, and some other details so you can follow up on this with your Amazon representative.

 

They probably still have all of the communication in their archive (everything happened within the last 3-9 months). From the very limited real conversation I feel like you won't have much luck due to all the internal amazon polices and how they are structed. For example customer service can't get information from other departments and instead of addressing the issue/answering the questions it was imported for the employee (not front line; higher up) to make to point out that she might issue additional training/sanction to the employees for the initial responses.

If its not too much trouble, please DM me. Just got back into the office so am getting caught up, but will look at this and flag to our contacts to, at a minimum, get more information.