Originally posted Dec 23, 2008
Festivus was made famous by Frank Costanza as an alternative holiday in response to the commercialization of Christmas. Along with other activities such as wrestling, Festivus also embraces the “Airing of Grievances”, in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. In celebration of Festivus this December 23rd, I’ve compiled a few social media marketers and the ways they’ve disappointed me over the past year.
Motrin Moms patronizes consumers. It all began with a simple online ad posted on the company’s website. The ad eluded that “baby wearing” (carrying your child in a wrap instead of pushing them in a stroller) was simply a fashion statement and a pain in the back. As the company mocked and disrespected practitioners of babywearing, it kicked up some relatively strong feelings among the community and resulted in a lot of loud racket on Twitter, YouTube and many blogs. Why they disappointed me – failure to listen to their community, disrespect of the consumer.
ExxonMobile twitter account hijacked. In August, a supposed representative of Exxon named “Janet” had the twittersphere abuzz as she answered questions about the oversight of the company, where resources are being spent, made comments about the Exxon Valdez and even the lack of sugar babies at one Exxon retail outlet. The company wasn’t aware of the hijacked twitter account until the Houston Chronicle called to ask about it. Spokesman Alan Jeffers said “That’s not us” and “..isn’t using mediums such as blogs and social networking sites to communicate with consumers.” Why they disappointed me this year – Lack of brand monitoring.
3M Carjacks Post-it Campaign. After Scott Ableman and a few co-workers placed thousands of 3M Post-It Notes onto a friend’s Jaguar they gained a groundswell of attention. Trying to capitalize on the attention, the folks from 3M Post-Its contacted Scott asking if they could use these photos on their back-to-school campaign this summer. Scott, looking for some compensation asked the Post-it foks what their budget was. Not wanting to pay to use the photos, 3M balked and instead copied what Scott had done, took their own photos, and used them to create a national marketing campaign. Why they disappointed me this year – lack of transparency and being cheap.
Pizza Hut’s lame facebook application. Pizza Hut decided to jump on the bandwagon and create a facebook application this year. Pizza Hut took their regular online ordering site, watered it down and cooked it to be a facebook app. There are no additional social features included to enhance the experience of the app. The issue I take with the application is not the fact that it brings nothing new to the table in terms of functionality, it’s that it spams all of your friends with advertisements and notifications. Why they disappointed me this year – lack of creativity and spamming my friends.
What social media marketers have disappointed you this year? What blunders stick out most in your mind? For every reader that comments, a contribution will be made to The Human Fund.
Looking for the best social media marketing of 2008? Check out the Groundswell Awards.
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