SkyMall Promoting Corporate Espionage

March 31, 2005 – 11:05 am

Recently there’s been some major buzz about corporate espionage. Several cases were in reference to someone stealing secret documents and product plans from Apple and posting them on Apple-related blogs. Law suits have been tossed around, the FBI has gotten involved, etc.

While on my Southwest flight, I was browsing through the SkyMall magazine. One product caught my eye - a Spy Pen. It’s a pen with a camera built in.

Normally, the marketing geeks would come up with a sales pitch like “Take pictures of your cute puppy” or something equally innocent. Not this time! They proudly state the camera’s primary use - taking photos of secret documents, taking secret photos in board meetings, etc. “Sneak it in where cameras aren’t allowed…” Even better, “It also has a real built-in pen so you can actually look like you’re writing.”

Remember - this is SkyMall advertizing a camera pen with the specific purpose of corporate espionage and illegal photo-taking.

Click picture for larger view.