Engage Critics or Sue Them?

I'm late commenting on the fight between Warren Kremer Paino Advertising and - well, the entire blogosphere. It's been well covered by everyone from Instapundit to Ed Cone to hundreds of other bloggers who are annoyed, amused and bemused by WKPA's behavior.

In case you've managed to miss this, here's a quick synopsis:

• WKPA is agency of record for the Maine Office of Tourism.
• Lance Dutson is a freelance Web designer, Maine resident, and harsh critic of the advertising practices of the Maine Office of Tourism and WKPA. In particular, he complains of WKPA's Google AdWords purchasing practices that are unnecessarily driving up keyword costs for Maine residents.
• Cutting to the chase, the contentious relationship between Dutson and WKPA came to a boil when Dutson posted several WKPA-produced ad comps that had been posted on the Maine Office of Tourism Website. Those comps included phone numbers belonging to a phone sex operation. Cue embarrassment for WKPA.
• WKPA responded with the nuclear option. They sued Dutson for defamation, gaming Google so that Dutson's blog had superior natural search placement to WKPA's own site, and <just kidding>failing to protect WKPA from themselves in the areas of proofreading and search optimization</just kidding>.
• The blogosphere responded by kicking WKPA squarely in the seat of the pants.
• A Maine state legislator asked the Maine Office of Tourism to suspend WKPA's contract until the outcome of the suit is settled.

It's quickly becoming a great case study in how not to respond to a critical blogger, and is all the more surprising because the folks at WKPA are ostensibly pros (I'm guessing that a junior copywriter didn't greenlight the legal action). I'll probably touch on it in my session with the PRSA on Tuesday, since it's a great cautionary tale about the power of the long tail to slap the fool out of "professionals" who would rather bully blogging critics than engage them in a more productive way.

[Update from the Department of Better Late Than Never: WKPA decides to focus on advertising and not litigation, and dismisses its suit against Dutson.]

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