While it’s important for brands to stay timely and topical on social media, that doesn’t mean they have to mention every national holiday or event. Here are three brands that failed to understand when silence can be golden.
Yoga studio uses Sept. 11 to promote a discount
The incident: September 11 is a difficult day for many brands. Since it was only 13 years ago, just about everyone remembers it, and many large companies (and their agencies) are based in New York, where the World Trade Center once stood. So a number of brands try to commemorate the day in some way, even if they shouldn’t. Gun-manufacturer Glock probably shouldn’t have mentioned “those who lost their lives,” and sex-toy Fleshlight really didn’t need to inject itself into the conversation at all.
This is not to say that no company should ever acknowledge the day. Some have a clear connection to the events of the day: Delta. Century 21, damaged in the Twin Towers’ collapse and closed for six months afterwards. New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which tweeted Lee Frieldander’s 1965 photo “New York City.”
But perhaps the worst 9/11 tweet of the year was from Bikram Arlington, a yoga studio about five miles from the Pentagon: “9 + 11 = 20% OFF! PATRIOT DAY SALE.”
The consequences: Bikram’s Twitter followers reacted very strongly to the sentiment. @Melissaweiss wrote, “Kind of disgusting to promote shop sales with a Sept. 11 discount. Shame on you.” The yoga studio’s response? “Its [sic] a shame some of you go to the negative.” Yet one minute later came the apology…followed by a conspiracy reference that made the company look even more foolish.
The lesson: There was no reason for the company to tie its 20%-off sale to September 11. The backlash from all corners, including the local press, the Huffington Post, and even the Washington Post, shows that brands can avoid a great deal of harm by simply not posting anything on September 11. Bikram Arlington eventually wrote a longer apology on Facebook, but critics just used that platform to further blast the studio.
DiGiorno misunderstands the #WhyIStayed hashtag
The incident: When NFL player Ray Rice was released from his team after a video surfaced of him knocking his fiancée unconscious, a national conversation on domestic violence ensued. Women shared their experiences on Twitter with one of two hashtags: #WhyILeft the abuser or #WhyIStayed — the latter being a response to those who blame victims for remaining in harmful relationships. Some of the stories, even at just 140 characters, are heartbreaking. Which made DiGiorno Pizza’s intrusion into the hashtag all the more awful. Their tweet: “#WhyIStayed You had pizza.”
The consequences: The response was swift, and every comment was scathing. DiGiorno quickly realized what was happening and deleted the tweet. Then, to its immense credit, its social media manager began personally apologizing, in the first person, to anyone who complained about the post on Twitter. The sincere responses made no attempt at defense or argument.
The lesson: It seems obvious, but always check a hashtag before using it in a brand tweet. Most are neutral and available for brands to join, such as #ValentinesDay or #ThrowbackThursday (also called #TBT). Perhaps the bigger lesson here is how DiGiorno responded to its mistake, immediately and humbly apologizing on Twitter for hours. I found very little anger at the brand just a day or two later. If you screw up on social media, often it’s wiser to admit wrongdoing than to try to fight a battle with critics across the country and around the clock.
Amy’s Baking Company continues the fight online
The incident: Amy and Samy Bouzaglo own a restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, and appeared on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. The couple proved so awful — stealing waiters’ tips, fighting with customers — that Ramsay actually walked off the set for the first time in the series’ history. Right after the episode aired, viewers began mocking the Bouzaglos on Reddit and giving them bad reviews on Yelp. In response, did the couple learn from their actions or choose the better part of valor?
No. They posted insults of their critics on the restaurant’s Facebook page, such as “You are all little punks” and “You people are all shit…Come to here, I will fucking show you all.” Critics replied in the comments, and the couple replied to those posts, often in all caps.
The consequences: It’s difficult to say that the bad PR online was any worse than what happened on national TV, but the press used the Facebook meltdown to paint the couple as truly deranged — making famous hothead Gordon Ramsay look reasonable for abandoning them.
The lesson: The Bouzaglos knew the episode was airing and could have prepared some kind of statement, response, or discount to deflect the negative reaction. They didn’t. They could have let Yelpers and Redditors have their fun for a few days before moving on to another target. They didn’t. By posting angry remarks again and again on Facebook, the couple proved the old adage, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
It’s fine for brands to have a personality online. Taco Bell, Old Spice, JetBlue, and even the CIA have cultivated unique, compelling voices. But brands don’t have to inject themselves into every conversation, event, or holiday. Learn from the mistakes of Bikram Arlington, DiGiorno Pizza, and Amy’s Baking Company, and know when it’s actually more social to say nothing.
Need help preparing for, avoiding, or navigating your own social media disaster? My agency can help.
Jason Ginsburg is Director of Interactive Branding at Brandemix.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
