Have a seat and watch us sell out

We’ve never endorsed a product before. Then again, we’ve rarely been asked. That, however, will likely change as “paid” and “bartered” product placement in blogs becomes routine.

When done right, blog product placement can be a killer marketing tool, not just for building brand awareness, but for generating links that strengthen a site’s all-important Google PageRank. There are even sites, such as ReviewMe, where advertisers pay to have bloggers review products, and bloggers who have signed-up get cash for being a corporate shill.

Fortunately, we here at Wordlab are above such temptations. Or were, until a product came along that has a great name, the Sumo bean bag chair, a large, flatter and more malleable version of the classic ball ‘o beans belonging to lucky friends of those of us who remember the ’70s. My ten-year-old daughter wanted a pink bean bag chair for her bedroom, so when the creator of Sumo offered to send me a cool Sumo Omni chair and ottoman (“Otto“) for free, if I just wrote a brief review about it on Wordlab, well, a perfect storm of selling out crashed over me. I said yes.

Of course, long-time Wordlab fans know I sold out long ago (“and for a lot less”, to quote Quark), plastering Google ads all over the site, for instance. So this shouldn’t be too shocking. If I have any justification for my actions, it’s that Sumo is the perfect name for a large, tubby, squishy chair that completely embraces you when you sink into it. It’s great for reading in, as you can see from this picture of our unit, and the Otto, in operation:

And from a brand-building point of view, Sumo is on to something by seeding bloggers with the chair and getting a lot of reviews and links to their site, as you can see on their Press page.

Would I buy a Sumo for myself? Probably not. Kids love them (my son wants one now, and my daughter’s friends are envious), and they’re great for kids’ rooms, play rooms, and dorm rooms, but probably not for your living room.

So there you have it, another corporate sell out. The money saved doesn’t really compensate me for my time, so why do it? To make a kid happy, avoid having to go shopping, and to support a good product with a great brand name. In other words, don’t bother sending me a Zune for review, Bill.