Occurs when a company releases an advertising campaign which is hi-jacked by others purporting to be the company in press releases that instead point out company shortcomings.
Chevron released the "We Agree" ad campaign on October 18, 2010. A group of under the radar marketers, the Yes Men, released a press release highlighting the company's alleged shortcomings related to environmental issues, pretending that is was an official press release from Chevron. As the press began reporting on the fraudulent press releases, the Yes Men issued another press release supposedly again from Chevron, that reported that the ad campaign and related press releases had been hi-jacked. The term ad-dentity theft was created to describe the the identity of the ad being stolen.
by U of A M/C Fall 2010 November 2, 2010