Anyone heard of such thing? I recently saw a report on the stuff on TV, and it got me totally annoyed. According to the story, there is a company (in the US, I believe) that organizes advertizing campaigns for different firms. They are employing so-called virus advertisement, i.e. it's based on rumors - no official ads. A few examples - they hire random people who roam around pubs, discos, etc, striking conversations and casually statong that, according to some friends of theirs, certain stuff is super cool (for instance, a drink or a certain brand of cigarettes). Alternatively, they are offering a drink (all the same brand), or asking for a light, and then inquiring whether the person has tried certain super cool cigarettes. This is done on a wide scale - i.e. they have a whole team working at the same location and trying to attract as many ppl as possible. However, the crappiest thing was that they also hire people to sit in MIRC or forums pretending to be strangers and striking conversations about movies, games, etc. - whatever they're advertising. E.g. "have you seen this film" "yeah, it's awesome! Gonna see it again". "Yep, me too, about the best thing I've ever seen", etc. This usually applies to second-rate stuff that usually nobody would pay attention to.
This whole thing is oriented towards teenagers and ppl around their twenties, but you never know.
The morale: trust noone - if sb says sth is good, they might be paid to to say so. *thinks about different treads on TLR*

Life is sexually transmitted