MN have used my quote to promote a product I’ve never bought 🤔

[Wondermoomin]

AIBU to expect MN recommendations, where they quote a poster/member, to be genuine?

I like being able to rely on recommendations in MN swears by and other emails. I excitedly opened an email with the subject “Big bargains for our most loyal Mumsnetters” wondering what MN could make me buy this time (I should probably get other hobbies).

Imagine my surprise to see my own username quoted there with a recommendation! Imagine my further surprise when I realised it was a post I wrote almost 8 years ago, and it was being used directly under a specific product to give the impression I was recommending it - and I’ve never even owned that particular thing mine was more expensive.

I don’t like posts being misrepresented as a recommendation for a specific product. It makes me question the credibility of other MN recommendations.

Hoping I’ll manage to attach screenshots.

PS my gazebo broke but I’ve replaced it. Still not with the brand I supposedly recommended according to the MN email.

Well if we keep it current then at least it will sit in active. Won’t it…. Won’t it…

Not when I just looked....

Sorry, it is, but way down the list. Which was surprising.

But she wasn’t writing about that gazebo. She was writing about some other gazebo.

You can’t take some words out of context, edited to fit your scenario and attribute them to someone.

Same as MN can’t take the words ‘ nothing is ever free’ from your post and then make an advert quoting you with your username saying ‘nothing is ever free’ and a picture of children not being allowed to look pit of a window at school . Or whatever.

It's the absolute arrogance that they thought no-one would notice.

Shilling crap. Makes Tattle look like a paradigm of virtue.

Mumsnet sell themselves to advertisers as ‘the trusted brand for mums’. Seems they’ve fucked themselves there. I hope this is picked up by ASA

Here here!

It may have been added to the Internet Archive Wayback machine 😇 so even if they delete the thread it'll still be available to the ASA.

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502210821/www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5326652-mn-have-used-my-quote-to-promote-a-product-ive-never-bought?page=7

I think this is even worse. This is describing quality of a different product. Not even a generic comment about these types of cameras. The apology was if they have confused us. Where was the apology for misleading us. I'm not confused but feel misled.

It’s all so very confusing. And MN now appear to be ignoring and hiding. Hoping it will go away. Whilst still sending disingenuous emails to make money out of their users I presume

Unlucky that the only time you did it you got found out.

Pretty much the disingenuous response we all expected.

Funny how a little digging from users found that this was standard practice from Mumsnet, and they have been misquoting MNers to create fake endorsements repeatedly and for how long? Yet they still persist with their arrogant "Nothing to see here" crap.

Let's see what the ASA have to say.

interesting! well done @Wondermoomin

Well I know there's people paid to review items like hundreds of people posting fake reviews for their companies etc, but they're easy enough to spot usually.

But what MN are doing is a step beyond. They're using MNers words out of context, deliberately to make us buy things, this is a huge reputational issue for man. They're supposed to be trusted and trustworthy. They pride themselves on being for mums and all that

Bit it turns out they have consistently lied to us.

I'm really surprised that there wasn't any more response from MNHQ yesterday this is not a simple mistake. The cynic in me wonders if they're hoping the thread fills up and by next Tuesday we've all forgotten about it...

Also murasaki you were right I don't think it's showing in active I've literally just posted gone to active and it's nowhere to be seen! Can anyone else see it?

They're going to need a bit of time to work out why this has happened and how to properly respond.

Maybe some heads will roll...

I suspect MN were sold it as a package and told that everyone does the same thing.

My gut feeling is that they had their reservations but charming salespeople and $ signs won the day.

And they've left out that she was endorsing it for the box room to keep her hamster warm; which is a bit different from being able to heat up the living room effectively for pence.

Good job I added this to my watch list yesterday as I deffo wouldn’t have found it, despite it being at 27 pages 🤔 yet there’s two posts in trending with less than 60 posts a piece….

MN will now go radio silent as they have dug themselves in further with their non apologies and more blatant misleading and will sit and wait it out to be forgotten by those of us who were lucky enough to see @Wondermoomin post.

The evil part of me would love to start a post on every board with a link it to this to spread the word…

I’d say it clearly breaks 3.48 - Testimonials must relate to the advertised product.

IANAL.

www.asa.org.uk/static/2a4eebb9-63f2-49a8-920925d6453f0fc4/857cb8e0-9cbd-410e-813950a264c04b05/The-CAP-Code-Misleading-advertising.pdf

It certainly seems like they are deliberately working to prevent others seeing the thread. It's not in trending or showing in active. The only place you can see it if I'm not mistaken is when it's posted on and jumps up in AIBU?

So which users liked outdoor furniture and that particular gazebo in that particular week, and why didn’t you quote them instead of the OP from years ago? This doesn’t make any sense?

All the stuff about affiliate links feels like a bit of a smokescreen - you seem to be trying to make out this is all fine and whoops, 8 years is just a bit long and we should have been clearer about it being a generic review, we don’t normally do it like that. When just a cursory look shows that you misrepresent people’s posts all the time to promote items that they are not actually referring to.

How do you explain the Kindle one, where the word kindle has been carefully omitted so that the quote can be applied to a different product? Which posters liked that product that week and why didn’t you use their posts instead of misrepresenting someone else’s opinion?

Patronising people with “sorry you are so easily confused” type apologies and explanations of the business model is not a good look. The ASA should throw the book at you.

Nah - they can't rely on the image they like to give of "we're just mums muddling along here trying out best to run a small site" whenever it comes to how they run this They're a multimillion pound company that is supposed to be a champion for women and mums.