Some people just don’t think things through, and some things you say (or tweet) you just cant take back. Especially things put out on the Internet for the world to see. You may delete a tweet or close your Twitter account but a lot of times the damage has been done. With that said here is my take on the article I read and some of the “Biggest Social Media Disasters of 2012”.
The McDonald’s failed hashtag promotion using “#mcdstories” was an example of what can go wrong when “consumers own your brand” as we read in Chapter 3. Consumers spun the promotion from positive to negative. I did a similar tweet to +Taco Bell . I ordered a Chicken Cheese Quesadilla and was given two warm tortilla shells with a sprinkle of cheese in between. Taco Bell did not respond to my tweet.
I was confused by the investigation by UK’s Office of Fair Trading into Snickers alleged undisclosed endorsement of celebrities to tweet photos of themselves enjoying the candy bar. Sometimes there is a phenomenon of celebrity behavior. It’s like a domino effect. When one celebrity does something and then all of sudden it becomes an inside joke, or a movement and then everyone repeats the behavior. An example of this would be when everyone (celebrity or non celebrity) began the “Tebowing” frenzy. This pose was started by the Broncos quarterback whenever he threw a touchdown. Suddenly this pose became a social media sensation. Even celebrities got in on the act. I doubt they were paid by Tim Tebow to promote his brand. This is again an example of when “consumers own your brand”. Isn’t it possible that this could have been the case with Snickers promotion?
The American Rifleman sent out a tweet “Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?” as the mass shooting was happening in the Colorado movie theater. To say “Bad timing” is not even adequate. Unfortunately, tragedies like Columbine, the Colorado movie theater shooting, and the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, are a part of the world we live in today. I do not think that this tweet was intentional or pre planned. I am satisfied to see the creator of the tweet not only took down the tweet but also deleted the account from Twitter all together. However controversial accounts like this should use much more caution when sending out messages, more so then other organizations.
I find the Celeb Boutique tweet “#Aurora is trending, clearly about our Kim K inspired #Aurora dress ;) Shop: …” inexcusable. I do not believe that the company was unaware of why #Aurora was trending and truly thought it was their dress. I think that the company took advantage of the hashtag trend to shamelessly promote their brand. Using the word “clearly” in their tweet reeks of sarcasm. I don’t; understand how anyone could possibly think this would be acceptable way to promote the company’s brand by using such a horrific tragedy to make a buck. Even if the company attempted to call this tweet a mistake would to be an effort to hide the dirt under the rug. A mistake is when I forget to carry the one over when balancing my checkbook. I hope the PR person responsible for this regrets this decision. Do your homework. I was unaware of this incident and I am glad I read this article. I will never shop this brand.
A lot of the major billion dollar corporations made some major Social media flubs in 2012. Most of it was stupidity, some was just bad timing. However a few tried to capitalize on trending hashtags to shamelessly promote their brand, which I find repulsive. I just don’t understand for all the money these companies have cant they pay for a decent Social Media manager? Call me!
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