News tips
and press releases may be sent to editor at hollywoodinvestigator.com. All submissions become property of the Hollywood Investigator and deemed for
publication without compensation unless otherwise requested. Name
and contact information only withheld upon request. Prospective reporters should research our Bookstore.
[HollywoodInvestigator.com]
Amazon has had reviewer scandals before -- now add Gigli to the list.
This turkey of a film starring
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Afflect has collected about 85 dubious reviews,
all posted on September 17 and 16, all about one-line long, semi-illiterate,
many with bogus sounding names (e.g., Bill Clintoon), and of course, all
five-stars. And as near as one can tell, it's the only review any
of these "reviewers" posted.
Obviously, bogus reviews
posted by the same person.
One wonders: who posted those
bogus reviews? A studio flunkie? Or did a hypersensitive Jennifer
Lopez or Ben Affleck order their assistants to post them?
Hollywood
Investigator
reporters have flagged Amazon's attention in several ways (e-mailed them
twice, to different departments, and used their "report
this" link). For a while, Gigli's
reviews were "inaccessible," so it seems that Amazon reviewed the matter. But it apparently did nothing about it.
Another
black eye to the integrity of Amazon's reviewer section.
To see
the bogus reviews, click back to about September 17 (that's when they start),
and they continue page after page through September 16. Or click
here.
Dec.
13 UPDATE: Since the Investigator ran
this story on December 10, three additional dubious reviews have appeared
on December 11. Each five stars, one-line long, semi-literate, and
from reviewers who've not previously reviewed at Amazon.
Dec.
16 UPDATE: Amazon has finally removed
the older bogus reviews -- but the bogus reviewer is back! See the
reviews dated Dec 11 - Dec 15, 2004.
Mimi Brickmeyer is a Los Angeles based entertainment reporter who has extensively investigated Hollywood's biggest celebrities. Read about her adventures in tabloid journalism in Hollywood Witches.
"Hollywood Investigator" and "HollywoodInvestigator.com" and "Tabloid Witch" and "Tabloid Witch Award" trademarks are currently unregistered, but pending registration upon need for protection against improper use. The idea of marketing these terms as a commodity is a protected idea under the Lanham Act. 15 U.S.C. s 1114(1) (1994) (defining a trademark infringement claim when the plaintiff has a registered mark); 15 U.S.C. s 1125(a) (1994) (defining an action for unfair competition in the context of trademark infringement when the plaintiff holds an unregistered mark).
