In this online article, Jennifer Leggio cites what she feels were the nine worst social media fails of the year thus far. Here they are:
1. House M.D. -When writers needed to cut a character from the show, they had him commit suicide. The writers embraced the ambiguity surrounding the situation by creating an "online altar" for the character. The plan backfired, because it was viewed by some viewers to be insensitive to the topic of suicide.
2. Quiznos- used a "2 girls one sandwich" viral video that spoofs a porn meme and therein created a strong negative reaction.
3. Motrin- posted some videos on its website that claimed that women who engage in "babywearing" need Motrin because of pain brought on by "wearing" their babies. This enraged "mommy bloggers."
4. Denny's- used a banana character it called a Nannerpuss to try to create customer loyalty. Attempts to gain a following for the character failed miserably.
5. Jack in the Box- ran a series of ads and online videos showing its Jack character in the hospital, after apparently having an accident. The company set up a site where customers could leave the character get well messages. Customers felt the campaign was insensitive and saw the company as stupid for insinuating they would kill off the character.
6. Skittles- turned its homepage into a Twitter feed for its brand. In doing so, the company failed to actively engage its community. Plus, the company has no control over what Twitter users are tweeting about the brand, so even negative messages were being broadcast on Skittles' own site.
7. Pizza Hut- issued a press release that said it was seeking an intern to maintain its Twitter presence over the summer. In doing so, it belittled the way that people engage one another and conduct business on Twitter. It also generated negativity because why would you want someone who is not familiar with the ins and outs of your company to be its face on the web?
8. Burger King- offered customers a free Whopper for unfriending 10 friends on Facebook. The company would notified the unfriended friends to tell them that they were unfriended- over a free burger. The campaign did not generate much participation and its manipulation of the "friend" system on Facebook was perceived as shallow.
9. CNN/ Ashton Kutcher- raced each other to 1,000,000 followers on Twitter. Detracted from CNN's credibility by engaging in a blatant stunt.
Leggio reminds us: "word-of-mouth marketing is a fantastic thing when you know how to leverage it. But if you lose control of your brand, the disasters are almost endless."
What do you think? Do you disagree with any of Leggio's picks? What campaigns would you add to the list?
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