In class today we discussed a case that took place on November 10th 2010. Popular blog "TechCrunch" outted Amazon for selling a book titled “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct." When the online response spread like wildfire, Amazon refused to remove it and stated:
“Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions.”
This brings us back to our discussion of a company's morals and values. If Amazon wants to be THE online book retailer, it only seems that they would agree that some lines shouldn't be crossed, regardless of censorship. As a private company they do not HAVE to sell these types of books. It is damaging to their brand to do so. This is not the only book they sell which could be considered a promotion of "criminal acts." You can find books on how to make pipe bombs and other illegal activity How To Guides on their site. However this particular book sparked such an outrage that even after releasing this statement, the book was removed from the site later that day, and surprisingly with not another word from Amazon about it. From a PR perspective, it would seem this "stonewalling" move would be damaging. However, given the proximity to Black Friday and Cyber Monday that this event occured, I actually think it was their best move. "Make it go away. NOW." Especially since this book is not the only pedophile guide they have on their site. The following blog posting discusses how this:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/11/11/pedophilia-book-removed-from-amazon-but-others-remain/
I think basically what happened here was Amazon figured instead of fighting with bloggers and social media over this one book, they could just get rid of it, and hope it went away, as quickly as possible, with as little damage to their upcoming biggest shopping day of the year. They were probably hoping the other books would not be brought into question and it would all just go away.
I do know that this past 2011 Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, Amazon was advertising that they would match any competitors "instore" offer. So instead of fighting the 5am lines and crowds, shoppers could sit in their PJ's at home and shop on Amazon for the same deal. I have to wonder if the prior year's bad publicity had a little something to do with that.
And here is the creepy guy who wrote the book.... Creepy "Chester The Molester" van in the background and all...
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/pedophilia-book-amazon-sparks-outrage/story?id=12111987#.T0R9i8xoD8A
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