Blogging Moms Wooed By Food Firms

And waddya know. You can make something out of blogging. I'll say!
I know that this is happening, to some extent in Malaysia. Some foodie bloggers do get invited to "review" dishes in restaurants and cafes.

Of course, the question of ethics comes in.
But what ethics are blogger bound by? Journalists of traditional media have got their "rules" and
honor code".

Here's a Los Angeles Times story about how food firms have found a shrewd marketing ploy by courting blogging moms:

Reporting from Los Angeles and Fort Wayne, Ind. - On most days, Andrea Deckard can be found in her home office, digging through stacks of coupons and grocery receipts for money saving tips and recipes that she can share with readers of her Mommy Snacks blog.

That is, when the stay-at-home mom isn't being wined and dined by giant food companies.

Earlier this year, Frito-Lay flew her to Los Angeles to meet celebrities such as model Brooke Burke and the Spice Girls' Mel B, while pitching her on its latest snack ad campaign.

More recently, Nestle paid to put her and 16 other so-called "mommy bloggers" -- and one daddy blogger -- up at the posh Langham Huntington hotel in Pasadena, treated them to a private show at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and sent packages of frozen Omaha Steaks to their families to tide them over while the women were away learning all about the company's latest product lines.

In return, Deckard and her virtual sisterhood filed Twitter posts raving about Nestle's canned pumpkin, Wonka candy and Juicy Juice drinks.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

How cool is that?
But, bummer if we have to deal with the ethics issue!