Yes, social media undoubtedly offers a great way to brands to connect with the consumers, build emotional rapport and have a more personalized connection with them. And when we talk about emotional connection, it is important that the brands remain sensitive about what they publish on social media.
Here are examples of some social media disasters where brands had to pay a heavy price for being insensitive on social media.
#1: Chipotle Mexican Grill
Recently Chipotle faked its Twitter hack.
Undoubtedly, it got the attention from public.
The number of followers increased – but are they really the people who want to
engage with the brand? I doubt. The supposedly hacked tweets got thousands of
RTs. But are these creating any value for the brand or for the audience? Not at
all!
I firmly
believe and continue to reiterate that brands need to look at quality of
conversations and engagement through social media – rather than the numbers
like followers and RTs only.
I am sure
ardent fans of Chipotle certainly did not appreciate this stunt and somewhere
the trust was shaken.
#2:
Volkswagen India
Volkswagen
India did a “vibrating newspaper” ad in leading newspapers across India. Indeed
an innovation – it became the talk of the Twitter town and blogosphere. Positive
and negative comments started pouring in. Volkswagen unfortunately was not prepared to handle the attention.
There were many tweets about the vibrating newspaper not being appreciated. In response to that (probably as a defense), Volkswagen India tweeted “Women would be dumb to call it a vibrator. Or maybe they do not understand real driving experience. #PunIntended #Volkswagen #Creative”.
There were many tweets about the vibrating newspaper not being appreciated. In response to that (probably as a defense), Volkswagen India tweeted “Women would be dumb to call it a vibrator. Or maybe they do not understand real driving experience. #PunIntended #Volkswagen #Creative”.
Obviously
such sexist tweet was retweeted many times and received lot of backlashing. Volkswagen
deleted the tweet and all the ReTweets. But the following screenshot, taken by
Nandita remained and that will continue to remind people about the
insensitivity shown by Volkswagen. Yes, Volkswagen responded after more than 3
days that its Twitter handle was compromised and they are looking into it – but
is anybody in the mood to listen?
 |
| (Via Social Samosa) |
#3: Hyundai
In April
2013, Hyundai released an ad for British market depicting a man attempting suicide
by suffocating himself with exhaust fumes inside his Hyundai car. But he fails because
the Hyundai ix35 fuel cell car emits only water vapor.
While the ad makers were patting their backs when The Drum magazine named it as Ad of the Week, something happened - A few days after the ad was released, an advertising copywriter
in London posted a blog post in which she posted the suicide note of her father
who had committed suicide in exactly the same manner.
The blog
post immediately went viral – and the ad became viral for all the wrong
reasons. Hyundai did tweet an apology and withdrew the ad. But the copies of
the ad were already out on YouTube and other channels. How to handle the
crisis is a different story, but I think suicide should not be promoted in advertising
in any way. Period.
#4: KFC, Thailand
In April
2012, after an earthquake of 8.5 Richter at the coast of Indonesia, the whole Thailand
was watching tsunami warnings and was fearing the worst. At such time, KFC Thailand
thought of ‘cashing’ on it and posted on its Facebook wall:
“Let’s hurry home and follow the earthquake
news. And don’t forget to order your favorite KFC menu.”
Such
insensitive post, on the company Facebook wall, was obviously not appreciated by
the people who were associated with the brand on Facebook. When thousands
of people lost their lives in Tsunami, all this food chain could think of was
its Chicken. Although the post was taken down later on, it had done the damage.
#5: American Apparel
In October
2012, when Sandy Hurricane hit the East Coast of United States and was creating
havoc in that part of the country, the leading retailer American Apparel thought
that it could cash on this by offering ‘discounts’ to people!
 |
| (Via Forbes) |
Along with a
very ‘helpful map’, American Apparel sent out an email announcing 20% discount for 36 hours for the customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New
Jersey, Delaware, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
