Chocolate-y Goodness: On the subject of authenticity, it’s nice to be able to point to an example of transparency in the blogosphere as a counterpoint to all the deceptive practices that still seem commonplace.

The Chocolate Blog, created by Hill & Knowlton on behalf of LG Electronics (for the company’s wildly popular chocolate cell phone, is a gold standard in this regard. Click on the link “The Programme” at the top of the page and there’s an explanation of the PR campaign, the reason for the company’s outreach to bloggers (LG “realises that consumer-to-consumer recommendations carry a higher trust factor than virtually all other forms of advertising, and that word of mouth is a frequent factor for purchase [and] that bloggers are the most important initiators of online conversation right now.”

There’s even information about H&K’s social media team (and yes, the transparency also serves the more selfish purpose of an ad for the firm’s work) as well as to the blog posts of the individuals involved.