Every so often, a brand botches a social media interaction. Sometimes their response to that mistake is even worse. When that happens, it becomes one of Brandemix’s official Social Media PR Disasters, and provides a valuable lesson for the rest of us.
The Brand
Black Milk Clothing
- 629,000 Facebook likes
- 42,100 Twitter followers
- 869,000 Instagram followers
- 25,400 Pinterest followers
The Incident
On May 4, Australian fashion retailer Black Milk Clothing posted two funny photos, joking that some women intend to dress like a “sexy geek goddess” but end up looking like Mayim Bialik’s nerdy character on The Big Bang Theory. Critics were quick to point out that the joke seemed to violate one of the company’s “commandments,” which include “You shall not make critical comments about other women’s bodies.”
The Problem
As more complaints from BMC’s fans appeared on Facebook, the company began deleting them, explaining, “It was clear we weren’t going to be able to make some people happy, and they weren’t going to unlike the page, so we made the decision that was the best for the business.” The brand then went even further by banning some followers, even a few long-time, loyal customers. This violated one of the brand’s previous posts that promised, “We welcome your feedback and will do whatever we can to make sure this remains a safe, welcoming environment for all our customers.” BMC’s replies to commenters included, “If the [Facebook] fan page offends you and you don’t like the way we roll, you probably want to unlike the fan page.”
The Response
This made some fans apopleptic, not only at the strange logic behind BMC’s strategy, but also the randomness of how it was implemented. One commenter wrote, “…it’s just gone far enough. I keep seeing very reasonable comments deleted. I’m seeing reasonable questions go unanswered.” People felt betrayed by the brand they love. But BMC stubbornly maintained that it was just trying to keep the Facebook page “positive” and that a “vocal minority” was “dragging everybody else down with their complaints.” It deleted the original photo — and all the comments that were attached to it. Fans posted their own complaints and BMC deleted those, too.
The Result
Two days later, Cameron Parker, Black Milk Clothing’s head of sales and marketing, posted an apology on Facebook — which addressed only the original photo that sparked the debate. The strange policy of deleting and banning, which angered so many fans, received just one brief mention: “The senior management at Black Milk take full responsibility for the post and the way complaints following the post were handled. Any criticism should be directed there, and not to the social media team who were simply acting under the direction of management.”
That post generated more than 2,000 comments, which I’d say were evenly split between those will felt the apology was sufficient and those who felt larger issues still weren’t resolved.
The Takeaway
What can you learn from Black Milk Clothing’s disastrous response?
– Follow your own guidelines
This entire affair began because BMC posted something that seemed to clash with its own mission and values. When dozens of fans pointed out the contradiction, the brand completely disagreed, stating that the photo was a joke; “harmless, not hateful,” despite all the harm it was doing to fans. It then spent six more posts trying to justify its actions.
– Don’t delete
I feel like I say this after every social media disaster: Deleting posts does more harm than good. Use the opportunity to reply to the complaint, explain your actions, offer options (like refunds), and try to turn a negative into a positive. You may create one of your biggest advocates out of your biggest critics. But BMC went even further by banning users, a terrible strategy that should only be used if posts are obscene or harassing. Banning someone whose complaint you don’t like is perhaps the worst customer service tactic of all time.
– See it from their point of view
None of the posts from BMC, including from Cameron Parker, ever quite apologized for the original image. An early apology would have gone a long way to stopping the disaster. Instead, BMC kept explaining why users were banned and posts deleted — even as fans who claimed they were innocent got swept up in the dragnet. One post from BMC actually said, “We didn’t do anything wrong, so we have nothing to apologize for!” When has that policy ever worked?
The Daily Dot has noted that, since the disaster, Black Milk Clothing has been “quite cautious” on social media, no longer signing its posts (as Alicia did, above) and responding to complaints about other issues right away. Cameron Parker himself has even stepped in to help — a sign that damage control will go on for some time.
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.
