Press Eats Up 'App' That Helps People Search For Migrant Boats On The Meditarranean… Despite It Not Actually Doing Anything
from the come-on-guys dept
Apparently, last week there was some buzz in the press about a new “app” that was being offered for iPhone users, put together by the charity group Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and Grey for Good, a group that’s associated with the ad giant Grey Group (itself a part of WPP). The idea behind the app is that it feeds users real-time satellite imagery of the Mediterranean Sea, and if you happen to see a boat full of migrants, you alert MOAS and they’ll go check it out. Many in the press ate it up because it hits all the buttons: it’s an app (ding!) that lets people feel good (ding!) by pretending they’re changing the world (ding!) on a topic of great public interest (ding!). And thus, we got a bunch of stories, though only Reuters went with the most obvious of headlines: Want to save migrants in the Mediterranean? There’s an app for that. Other reports appeared at Wired, Mashable, Huffington Post, the Evening Standard and a variety of other, smaller publications.
There’s just one issue. The app appears to be complete bullshit — as the wonderful Twitter account SwiftOnSecurity pointed out:
Tried it, the app is completely non-functional. It's a marketing stunt for the developer to get press articles. pic.twitter.com/SubRotl5A3
— SecuriTay (@SwiftOnSecurity) June 19, 2016
Following that, a bunch of others started digging in and highlighting that it’s clearly a bogus app. Matt Burke pointed out that it appears to be a link to a static image, while Rosyna Keller found a bunch of details about the app, including the fact that it uses images from Google Maps (meaning that they’re not real-time or even remotely up to date) and a static weather call for the weather from Misrata, Libya, rather than whatever patch of Mediterranean you think you’re looking at. Oh, and also that the app asks for donations and personal info including your passport number. Malika Rodrigues pointed out that the app is up for an award at the Cannes Lions advertising awards, which just happen to be going on this week.
@SwiftOnSecurity possible reason: enter it for an ad awards show; these sort of "scam ads" are rampant pic.twitter.com/1I7w0NgbKD
— Malika Rodrigues (@ruderigues) June 20, 2016
At least as I type this, the app still has a page on the awards website with a heartstring-tugging video about how important this app is:
Of course, there are a variety of things that should have tipped you off. First off, while it’s theoretically possible to see how such a thing could be created, real-time satellite imagery is not easily available to just any charity building an app. The video quotes someone from a satellite company, SES, praising the app, and (I guess?) implying that’s where the satellite imagery is from. But SES promotes itself as being about communications satellites for connecting teams in different places. I can’t find anything on its website about imagery, real-time or otherwise. But, perhaps just as important: how would a random person who actually spotted a boat using such an app be able to distinguish a “refugee” boat from… any other boat?
It’s always interesting to see how tech and innovation might help with real challenges, but creating a fake app and a fake campaign, including getting widespread press coverage for something that doesn’t appear to actually do anything, seems pretty damn scammy.
Filed Under: apps, isea, mediterranean, migrants, satellite imagery
Companies: grey for good, grey group, moas