I read an interesting article on Mashable.com about Brand Feuds on Social Media. Advertising has always fascinated me. I like to see how companies come up with bigger and better commercials to keep an ever-changing society interested in them. And, by the way, I am one of those people that only watch the Super Bowl to see the $4-million dollar 30-second commercials. I want to see what the top advertising men and women come up with each year. I still think the "Bud-Weis-Er" frogs take the cake for my all-time favorite Super Bowl commercial. Here's a link for anyone that would like to re-visit that circa 1995 ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVcbasIb8lQ
Okay, back to the Mashable article…now that there are social media venues available, advertisers can sneak in an ad without us even noticing - and a heck of a lot cheaper than those Super Bowl ads! I have to say that even though I appreciate advertising, it does tend to get overwhelming when trying to watch a show or movie on television…it seems like there are commercial breaks every other minute! The type of advertising banter discussed in the Mashable Brand Wars article is interesting to study, because this is advertising that we may actually enjoy as it scrolls along our social media page. Many of us check our Twitter accounts regularly to see what is happening with those we are following, and at the same time, companies are keeping tabs on what is being said about them. The article illustrates feuds such as: Smart Car vs. The Haters, Oreo vs. AMC Theaters, Oreo vs. Kit-Kat, Old Spice vs. Taco Bell, and Orbitz vs. Priceline. All of the "feuds" are timely, humorous posts and responses, which attempt to win over consumers. I certainly enjoy when a company uses humor to gain popularity; and the result is, clever advertising tends to stick with consumers when they are about to make a purchase.
One example is the Oreo vs. Kit-Kat Feud - two sweet snacks that I enjoy equally. This “Tweet War” has a most unexpected ending. Basically, Kit-Kat challenges Oreo to a Tic-Tac-Toe duel because of a tweet posted by a fan of both. Kit-Kat makes the first move with an “X” in the center square. We then expect Oreo to accept the challenge and place an “O” somewhere on the board. The unexpected turn is that instead of Oreo taking a turn, it “eats” almost all of the Kit-Kat “X” and tweets “Sorry, @kitkat we couldn’t resist”.
The other great comeback is the Smart Car vs. The Haters feud. A “hater” of smart cars tweets: “Saw a bird had crapped on a Smart Car. Totaled it.” Smart car had a comeback using a scientific study of the weight of “bird crap” within two days of the original Tweet. They created a chart which creatively displays the amount of bird crap it would take to damage a smart car. I should note that the original “totaled it” post had 115 Retweets and 74 Favorites. Smart Car’s comeback had 567 Retweets and 357 Favorites. I’d say that is a smart win for Smart Car.
The Mashable article ends with, “What brands would you love to see duke it out on Twitter?” I think McDonalds vs. Burger King would be a good feud, and maybe Coke vs. Pepsi. What are your thoughts?
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