Looks like Edelman was trying to faux-blog on behalf of Wal-mart, a client of theirs. Here's what they were trying to do:

A pro-Wal-Mart blog called "Wal-Marting Across America," ostensibly launched by a pair of average Americans chronicling their cross-country travels in an RV and lodging in Wal-Mart parking lots, has been reduced to a farewell entry. One of its two contributors was revealed to be Jim Thresher, a staff photographer for The Washington Post.

Why would anyone think that was a good idea? At best, it was going to look weird - I mean, who parks in Wal-Mart parking lots in an RV while doing a cross country trip? Last time I looked, there weren't power, water, and septic hookups there. Given that, it's the sort of thing that's destined to be outed as a stupid PR stunt, with all the predictable fallout. To be brutal, this had Negative PR Event written all over it from the start (time from launch to outing: less than 3 weeks).

That's not the worst of it though. Thus far, Edelman is displaying a vast well of silence on this. Here's a question - where's Steve Rubel, or Richard Edelman? Not looking good, guys.

Technorati Tags: marketing, stupidity