M&S customer "reviews" - hmmm ....

M&S went live fairly quietly with written reviews from customers. I thought I'd have a root around and see how genuine they looked. Here are two reviews from customers straight off the M&S site, both interestingly from the Gifting section of the site:

"This gift is a must..... for any occasion, it's healthy colourful and delightful to receive. The fruit is absolutely fresh and can be enjoyed by all your family and friends."

"My husband and I recieved this as a gift from someone, and it was an absolute surprise, and wow, what a gift. I would definately, and intend to purchase this for others as and when the occasion arises."

The evidence:
- Both reviews are written by people who only have one review each to their name.
- Both gave 5 out of 5 star ratings
- Both had maximum "usefulness" scores - 8 out of 8 found the first review helpful, and 11 out of 11 found the second review helpful.
- The language used "can be enjoyed by all your family" and "intend to purchase this for others".
- Oh and the first quote above was titled "Delightful, colourful gift" - Really? Really? Purlease.

Please someone at M&S tell me that these are kosher and not just badly seeded "home-grown" reviews.

Martha Lane-Fox, non-exec at M&S now, was talking a few weeks ago about the next gen retail winners being those who could build a sensible commercial model around user-content and brand engagement. Fair enough and totally agree. But M&S initial efforts kind of fall far short of looking sensible or even believable.