Hot Coffee Update:
It’s no secret that some well-funded groups are not fans of Hot Coffee—its advocacy for the rights of citizens to access the civil justice system rubs a lot of so-called “tort reform” activists the wrong way. These include “Astroturf” groups like Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA), and, as viewers of Hot Coffee know, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. There are many obvious ways the Chamber uses its power and money. And with a little research, it isn’t too difficult to figure out activities they’re not so up front about.
But there are other methods that groups like CALAs and the Chamber use that are a little harder to detect. One of the more popular methods is “Google Bombing,” or Search Engine Optimization (SEO), in which search engine results are manipulated to reflect a certain point of view. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, it is “the activity of designing Internet links that will bias search engine results so as to create an inaccurate impression of the search target.”
What's a 'Google Bomb'?
Google Bombing is not unusual in contemporary politics. But Google Bomb Susan Saladoff? Really? Yep, really. Do a simple search of her name on the search engine of your choice, and the top hits are negative articles about Susan and Hot Coffee. Now we don’t want to brag (OK, maybe we want to brag a little!), but reviews and audience responses to Hot Coffee—and to Susan herself—have been overwhelmingly positive, often passionately so. And even some reviews that did not necessarily love the film itself recognized the importance of its subject matter.
Another stealth tactic is “trolling,” in which people—paid or volunteer—go on blogs, news sites, and social media platforms and offer negative, often insulting, and definitely contrary, comments. Trolls aren’t interested in truth; they’re interested in imbalance, and though it’s tempting to dismiss them (or ignore them the way our mothers told us to ignore playground bullies), if you’ve ever read a long comment thread, you know how effective they can be.
Trolling has been used against Hot Coffee, especially on Social Media sites. If you go to our pages on IMDB, Netflix, YouTube, or Amazon.com, you’ll see a lot of negative comments and reviews. It would be laughable, but all these negative reviews and ratings hurt our chances with potential renters or buyers of the Hot Coffee DVD. People look for films with 4 or 5 stars when they’re browsing, and the trolls have left us with lower ratings.
So we need your help to diffuse the Google Bomb, and get rid of the trolls! We’d like to engage you in a little action of our own. Here are some ways:
1. Positive Google Bombs: The key is to post a link—on your website or blog—to the highly informative Hot Coffee Website, or the extremely entertaining Hot Coffee Trailer using effective “anchor text” as in the above examples.
2. Share on Facebook and Twitter: Post links to the highly informative Hot Coffee Website, or the extremely entertaining Hot Coffee Trailer on Facebook and Twitter!
3. Movie Sites: If you’ve already seen Hot Coffee, give us positive reviews, and 4 or 5 stars on IMDB and post a comment on the IMDB message boards, Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, or Netflix. Even if you aren’t ready to give a review of your own, give a thumbs down to those negative trolls.
4. Keep up the wonderful interaction on our Facebook and Twitter pages. With over 6,000 “likes” on FB, and almost 800 followers on Twitter, we are doing great!
5. Comment on our Trailer, Teaser And Take Action Items videos on YouTube. (Note: comments here are moderated: no personal attacks or profanity, please!)
6. For more ways to help spread the word about Hot Coffee, see our What You Can Do page (you can download it too).
After watching the "Hot Coffee" video, here are some ways you as a citizen can take action.