Telephone poles used to be the domain of missing pet and local flea market posters but viral marketers have found another way to spread the artificial word and get a bit of quality time with the local police for one Zune promoter. With SXSW winding down, Microsoft was hoping to get some promotional materials to the public but a viral marketer was charged with putting up Zune logo posters around town.

Some believe that any kind of press - even negative press - may have a positive effect and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume there's a conspiracy lurking behind this incident. I mean, that Zune poster came out "really" good in those pictures. According to Engadget, Microsoft called them to confirm that "...an employee of a marketing agency engaged by Zune was cited for hanging promotional posters at SXSW."

Viral marketers are often known to push the limits of good taste, and now they might be able to add vandalism to their illustrious resume. Maybe now we can go back to putting up posters of missing cats and dogs. [via Engadget]