Opinion: Samsung Flew Mob!lers Bloggers To Germany and Threatened To Leave Them There

The trend these days for most companies is to get bloggers to blog about their product or event. Influential bloggers are given perks such as trips, products, etc. in exchange for an article or write-up which is mostly positive.

TNW recently broke a story about how Samsung invited two bloggers, Clinton Jeff of Unleash the Phones and another unnamed blogger, to Germany to cover the IFA conference in Berlin. When it turned out that Samsung were forcing the bloggers to operate as Samsung representatives against their will, the participants declined.

Samsung then threatened to cancel their hotel bookings and flight ticket. With the threat of being stranded in Germany, they were forced to follow what Samsung wanted them to do, act as company representatives.

After, they were hastily told to leave the country immediately. In short, they were not even allowed to cover the whole event.

It's a good thing that Nokia heard about their plight and picked up their tab so the two can cover the event in its entirety.