Brandy (Playtech) run a "Spam the forums!" promo.

[caruso]

Vote-whoring is one thing, but this goes way beyond anything I've ever seen. It could only happen at a bottom of the barrel Playtech.

Brandy are currently running a "forum spam" promo, in which members are invited to spam the forums to the maximum, with bonus amounts based on the intensity / creativity etc. of the spam. Five posts gets you a $10 freebie, through to $200 for such things as "The player who covers the largest number of forums", "The player who makes the most artistic and vivid Brandy Casino presentation", "The expert who leaves the most sensible and rational description of Brandy Casino".

This must rank as quite the most disgusting bonus campaign ever. It really could only happen at a Playtech.

Old / Expired Link

 

[Sodax77]

Yep

Old URL
(see my post about e-mail what i got)

Old URL

 

[jetset]

For once I find myself in total agreement with Caruso!

We've been following this story for the past two days and have a comment from the casino (which we have questioned and now await a second response on before we go to press on this)

Some Gamtrak link had would-be spammers hitting WOL, where Max has canned three of 'em, snipped the Brandy spam and warned Brandy against any further invasions.

 

[swampwitch]

This isn't a new scam.
Casino Virtuoso ran the same "promotion".
Apparently, all their advertising dollars went to a full page glossy at GOM, along with a sweetheart "review".

 

[johanes]

I think that can help you:

"All you need is to make significant posts at any gambling forum*. The message is supposed to include the active link to Brandy Casino site (www.brandycasino.com) along with your account number so that we could identify you. The posts you make should abide by the forum rules, and should not be spam.

Players who have made 5 posts mentioned above, and forwarded the links to them to help@brandycasino.com will get their accounts credited with $10 Bonus.


Moreover Brandy Casino sets up a number of awards:

The most active player (the one who posts the greatest number of significant messages) will get $50 or 20% Deposit Bonus (max $200) at the winner's option.

The player who covers the largest number of forums will get $50 or 20% on a deposit (max $200) at the winner's option.

The player who makes the most artistic and vivid Brandy Casino presentation will get $50 or 20% Deposit Bonus (max $200) at the winner's option.

The expert who leaves the most sensible and rational description of Brandy Casino will get $50 or 20% Deposit Bonus (max $200) at the winner's option.

The player who starts the most popular topic concerning Brandy Casino will get $50 or 20% Deposit Bonus (max $200) at the winner's option.

Those who give the most well based arguments to Brandy Casino opponents will get $50 or 20% Deposit Bonus (max $200) at the winner's option.

The Pioneer who discovers any new gambling forum**, which had no information about Brandy Casino, will get $50 or 20% Deposit Bonus (max $200) at the winner's option.


Lisa Evans
Brandy Casino Manager

Brandy Casino - CasiNo1

* Except Playin4Keeps and Online Gambling Forums.
** In case there have not been any messages about Brandy Casino posted in the forum you found. To claim for the bonus please send a request to help@brandycasino.com. Mind to put Pioneer and your Brandy Casino Username in the topic and links to your posts in the body of the e-mail."

 

[Casinomeister]

Strictly Commercial

This is why "Strictly Commercial" exists.
https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/categories/strictly-commercial.53/
Spammers can spam to their spamming hearts' content. I have plenty of band width so they can waste as much as they want over there until it's deleted.

What most people don't like (including myself) is when a posting is nothing more than a cloaked ad. This is a hokey pokey no-no and is grounds for a temporary suspension. (It depends on what kind of mood I'm in). And this promo tends to incite players to make this mistake.

Instead, it would have been good for players to be given incentives to "enhance" a message board - not to simply post ads. I would have welcomed postings from players comparing experiences in a frank and open manner - not shillish by the way. But this can be very difficult to do, especially if it's the poster's first posting. There are many members here who are very sharp and are quick to point out that cloaked ads are unwelcome.

In my honest opinion, you should have run a contest on who could spend the most money on my "wish list". This I would have applauded.

 

[spearmaster]

Two people took a shot on the Got2Bet forums and quickly found themselves banned... and Brandy has been warned that I will issue a blacklist alert if it happens again.

What a STUPID idea!

 

[jetset]

Apparently the Brandy Marketing Team do not think this promo was questionable at all - here's their response to a press query, which we have incorporated into our bulletins:

QUOTE Brandy Casino Marketing team takes an original approach and exploits new marketing tools.

Due to fresh and inventive methods Brandy Casino promos are always popular with our numerous players and raise heated disputes. Regarding your question it is especially necessary to make clear that our actions are ethical from both professional and universal points of view.

There are three parties involved - Brandy Casino, Brandy Casino players and online gambling forums.

First of all, Brandy Casino players, who participate in the promo, leave their unsolicited messages expressing their opinion of Brandy Casino. This not only inspires the participants creativity but also affords an opportunity to test luck and enjoy gambling to those who cannot play their own money.

Brandy Casino does not pay for these posts as Brandy Casino bonuses are not in actual fact the real money they cannot be cashed out and are used only for wagering. We consider crediting bonuses to be the only available way to show our appreciation.

As far as forums are concerned we are to point out that the promo has aroused interest to all the forums related to gambling with no part of the forum owners. The promo has attracted a number of new forum members, stimulated their activity and increased traffic. These factors are undoubtedly of benefit to the development dynamics of any site.

Moreover all the forum participants are not just incidental visitors. They are all keen on gambling and their first visit is most likely to develop into continual membership. So they are of great interest as targeting customers.

Let us observe that as an unplanned result of the promo we received some offers on collaboration. Several forum owners suggested holding joint promos.

In summary we would like to declare that the promoting strategy we are exploiting is ethical to all the parties involved. Furthermore we suppose that this marketing experience will be widely used by other online industry participants.

To finish up we would like to cite Mark McK., a forum administrator, who expressed his opinion of the matter:

I am one who feels that a "Pat on the back" for a job well done should never go unspoken . . . so here goes: It is refreshing to see a casino (Brandy) that tries to continue support towards the community. I have to give them credit for not just hiding behind the veil, but rather finding other avenues in which to attract more people and maintain the integrity of the prior enticements as best as they can. It is not only a breath of fresh air but it is imperative to have casinos such as Brandy; they improve the tarnished reputation of the gambling community immensely. The longevity of this industry will be determined by the ratio of credible casinos such as Brandy to those lacking such morality.

Sincerely yours,
Marketing Team
Brandy Casino UNQUOTE

 

[Casinomeister]

QUOTE Brandy Casino Marketing team takes an original approach and exploits new marketing tools.

I think "exploits" is an appropriate term. Please note that the two Brandy postings were immediately moved to the "Strictly Commercial" section. These were "first" postings by users just signing up. Just minutes prior to their posting they had read and agreed to the following:

Post ads in the "Online Casino Promos and Ads" section. Ads posted elsewhere (or cloaked ads) will be removed. Spammers will be dragged out into the street and shot. Shills be warned.

Funny how they did not abide by this. Not a serious offense, but an exploitative one at that.

 

[spearmaster]

What a load of shit...

Let's see how Brandy's marketing team feels about the results after they come back down to Earth with a HUGE THUD next month after this is over...

I wonder if Gone Gambling has had to deal with this mess... LOL... but Max at WinnerOnline clearly is not happy about it either - so you're looking at perhaps 3-4 of the top 10 most visited gambling portals.

 

[jpm]

This really is a reprehensible campaign. How could they not realize that they were going to piss off all the forum operators with this stunt?

The really bad part is that other sleazy outfits will see this stunt and encourage their players to do the same. Any bets on whether Cirrus or Virtual will be the first to try it? Or maybe the Vegas Strip crowd.

 

[Simmo!]

Furthermore we suppose that this marketing experience will be widely used by other online industry participants.

Bet they don't come here or to WOL though



Seriously though, if they were being truly ethical they would have instructed their Spam teams to only post in forums put aside specifically for promos. I mean we all know its a competitive industry and you have to dream up new schemes but if they'd have done that then fair enough.

Surely they expect some trouble from this don't they? They must have known. I can't beleive they could be that naive as to think that every forum admins and members would put up with Spam?!?

 

[greedygirl]

I wonder if Gone Gambling has had to deal with this mess... LOL... but Max at WinnerOnline clearly is not happy about it either - so you're looking at perhaps 3-4 of the top 10 most visited gambling portals.

No surprise, Ted, we've had to deal with this.

Ironically, in the midst of this ridiculous promotion, I'd received an inquiry from Brandy to advertise on GG. To say the least, it was extremely poor timing on Brandy's part. I have posted the following excerpt of my reply (to Brandy's advertising request) in our Promotions Forum, in the hopes it will dissuade anyone from being stupid enough to take part in Brandy's scheme:

I am posting an excerpt from an email I have sent to Brandy Casino. Consider it valuable information (relating to your player security), as well as fair warning where your GoneGambling membership is concerned...

"Perhaps you did not consider the following points when executing this promotion:

==The player is being asked to COMPROMISE the security of his/her casino account, and more importantly, their banking. By asking the player to post their user i.d., they are literally sitting ducks for anyone possessing the wherewithall to sort out passwords. As the casino, you should be doing EVERYTHING to make a player SECURE, above all else. Shame on you for opening the door for security breeches.

==You are asking your players to do what your casino is too lazy to do, yourselves. Explain why you cannot post your promotions on your own? Further, casinos SCREAM about bonus abuse, however, you seem to welcome this. The very players who will be participating in this little scheme of yours, are those very players who are out to abuse bonuses.

When GoneGambling created our Promotions Forum, it was done so with the notion that other webmasters could promote their sites and casinos could post special deals they may be running. What your promotion does is abuse the very spirit in which our Promo Forum was created. Though I can't speak for all webmasters, I would be surprised if they did not feel similarly, on this.

Be forewarned: I am happily deleting those posts promoting Brandy Casino from our forums, just as quickly as I catch them. These posts are in ABSOLUTE violation of our posting rules (these are available for viewing on every forum page on our site). Not only will these posts be deleted, the person posting will be banned, without discussion. The bottom line here, is, you will be setting yourselves up for complaints of fraud, by the very players you've been exploiting. Here's how this is achieved...

The person posts the thread, contacts Brandy, requesting the bonus. Brandy verifies the details, only to find the post does not exist. Brandy notifies the player, denying the bonus. The end result is the player once again gets screwed by a casino, who did the wrong thing to begin with."

I'm certain it will come as no surprise, we've declined their request to advertise.

 

[spearmaster]

Nice one, GG.

I sent a very simple email to them, in my usual, more brusque manner.

Let me make myself very, very clear. If there are ANY more postings for your silly "spam post on every forum" contest on the Got2Bet forums, I will immediately issue a BLACKLIST alert for Brandy Casino which will be sent to all subscribers, which include a number of industry professionals as well as a large number of players.

Please either cease your contest or mark Got2Bet clearly off limits to participants.

This will be the ONLY communication on this matter.

Your approach is well thought out but then again, I have not been approached by them for advertising nor would I ever consider allowing them on site in the first place. So I can be a lot more direct

 

[spearmaster]

Hmph.

Well, I guess they took notice because Got2Bet is now marked off-limits. Here is where it all started.

Old / Expired Link

 

[Casinomeister]

Hmph.

Well, I guess they took notice because Got2Bet is now marked off-limits.

Yeah, you and playin4keeps

 

[spearmaster]

Yeah... LOL... but I suspect P4K was not voluntarily excluded since they were on the list to begin with... along with the online gambling forums board. I guess Got2Bet was the only one demanding to be excluded

 

[caruso]

P4K was excluded obviously because they already have very close ties to this casino to the extent that postings there would be irrelevent, in the same way that postings are irrelevant on that idiot Brandy board, which is also "excluded". The P4K and G2B exclusions are obviously totally incomparable.

 

[Casinomeister]

P4K was excluded obviously because they already have very close ties to this casino to the extent that postings there would be irrelevent, in the same way that postings are irrelevant on that idiot Brandy board, which is also "excluded". The P4K and G2B exclusions are obviously totally incomparable.

It was a joke.

 

[maxfalcon]

What a brilliant idea it was! ... 'm wondering why they don't have included guestbooks and blogs in their current marketing efforts!

 

[Randy]

I'm sure their marketing director has read this and is putting on his thinking cap right now. (Tongue firmly in cheek.)

What a brilliant idea it was! ... 'm wondering why they don't have included guestbooks and blogs in their current marketing efforts!