from Hacker News

Branding Vice

by I_HALF_CATS on 6/20/16, 5:01 PM with 22 comments

  • by linkregister on 6/20/16, 6:09 PM

    The author of this article has a serious axe to grind with VICE which overshadows the few good points he makes. The photoshopped pictures of VICE executives with consumer brands are embarrassingly bad.

    It does bother me that VICE sometimes over-editorializes some of its stories and does some truth stretching. Overall, I think the quality stories are worthwhile and I can just roll my eyes at the misinformative ones, e.g. many on motherboard.vice.com.

    I clicked on another entry in this ranty blog and found a hilarious VICE parody done by the Onion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHvrirXi5Ds .

  • by tn13 on 6/20/16, 6:20 PM

    The rant might be genuine. Post McInnes VICE was not as provocative as it use to be. At present VICE just brings the politically correct news reporting in a provocative format. Clearly one has ignore facts in favor of a good story. Most news media does this I dont think why VICE should be singled out.

    The whole zoo is like a fancy dress competition I dont see why VICE should be demonized or singled out.

    P.S. Vice also remains probably the only media house to come up with these real off beat stories. They might have taken creative liberties with facts but then who does not ?

    Examples:

    https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/life-as-a-member-of-i... http://www.vice.com/read/first-person-shooter-building-maint... http://www.vice.com/read/why-prisons-should-give-inmates-acc...

  • by tcdent on 6/20/16, 5:53 PM

    What a trashy, incongruent rant of an article.

    Regardless, a vast majority of their content doesn't include any reference to marketable brands. If the OP is accusing them of being a PR news agency, I have seen very little evidence of it. Questioning wether they are a business trying to earn a profit is incredibly naive.

    However, if I was to criticize anything about their journalistic integrity, it's the tendency for their reporters to inject too much personal opinion. Though they do often succeed at concluding their pieces in a way that leaves the consumer considering multiple perspectives.

    We don't have nearly enough (imperfect or not) media companies pursuing the types of stories Vice does. Given their willingness to publish exceptionable stories, it's no wonder there are significant attempts to discredit them.

  • by tn13 on 6/20/16, 6:20 PM

    Example: This news article is an advertisement in disguise: http://www.vice.com/read/david-shapiro-supremacist-supreme-s...

  • by serg_chernata on 6/20/16, 6:20 PM

    Is there a publication that does edgy, interesting content like Vice but isn't tied up in advertising controversy? This is a multi-layered question so answer however you like, I'm genuinely curious.

  • by chrisdbaldwin on 6/20/16, 5:54 PM

    Is it "injecting" if the content was native-advertising to begin with?

  • by profeta on 6/20/16, 5:56 PM

    I call it the "Wired Style".