there is so much that could be done
Hmmm Dexter and CSI Miami are often filmed in my city.. wonder if I should hit their PR about a campaign about the next season of Dexter ..Lila showing up from Paris to reach out to dexter and maybe the kids with Dexter’s girlfriend would have been a good addition

However Jonathan’s suggestion to AMC and vetting out the person is correct. As a fellow id theft victim, it ain’t pretty and a lot of work.

But the legal department and marketing could have partnered up with Twitter to get these characters to cooperate. would have been HUGE for Twitter who also dropped the ball in not presenting AMC with the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg for both sides

I think they should have contacted the people behind the characters and basically said “Look, we want to work with you because we see potential in this. But we have to vet you on some things to make sure you’re not a whacko or something”.

Then they could arrange some sort of legal arrangement whereas the character could be reclaimed if the person behind it started using it inappropriately. The people behind the characters could get a stipend and even a free trip to meet the characters.

Companies have to protect their brands, but they can engage those that want to enhance it online.

As far as taking over a character, I’d say that we all have to be careful – I’ve been a victim of identity theft – and it sucks.

If an agency creates one for a client…that can get tricky. Twitter is very personal and relationships build. If you’re doing it for a client, then it’s best to just use it as a notification platform like @BarackObama.

I can see disasters happening where a “friend” or “follower” ends up meeting a person and thinks that the celeb type person will know them. So the client must be kept appraised of what’s going on and perhaps should be a part of it.

It’s still an ethical question, but it’s also more procedural.

What these people did with Mad Men was fine. Sure, they got caught. But it seems they had good motives. The characters themselves were fictitious, so it wasn’t as if there was someone out there being impersonated.

One point. About vetting. Necessary. It could be like someone impersonating a cop. Or the person involved could be someone undesirable in some way. Have some sort of police record. But AMC should have given these folks a try.

Jonathan, what is your take on Personal Twittering/blogging here?

And you’re right that it would have been great if AMC embraced the fans who were doing this. They kept in character quite well, and it could have opened up a whole slew of new marketing opportunities for AMC, not to mention continued cultivation of a highly enthusiastic fan base. I’d hazard a guess that AMC has no idea how many people talk about Mad Men on Twitter on a regular basis, nor how those fans feel about the show.

Missed opportunities all over the place!