Social Media PR Disasters: World Nutella Day

It’s not often that social media PR disasters have happy endings. The Kansas City Chiefs fired the person behind their insulting tweet. McDonald’s may never be able to use the Twitter hashtag #McDStories again. Songs about United Airlines' obstinance are still racking up views on YouTube. But this time a brand finally backed down and listened to its critics – and avoided a much larger crisis.

The Brand

Nutella

·      17.4 million Facebook likes

·      10,280 Twitter followers

The Incident

Since 2006, blogger Sara Rosso has been promoting World Nutella Day every February 5, encouraging people around the world to try the hazelnut chocolate spread. The “holiday” is completely unofficial and is simply a result of Rosso's loyalty and love for the brand.

On May 16, seven years after the first World Nutella Day and three months after the most recent celebration, Nutella’s parent company Ferrero sent Rosso a cease-and-desist letter based on her unauthorized use of the brand’s name. She immediately posted the news on her blog and the World Nutella Day Facebook Page, saying she would shut down the relevant sites and stop promoting the holiday. Support from her fans quickly turned to anger at Ferrero.

The Problem Ferrero made no public statement and Rosso didn’t publish their cease-and-desist letter. So there was no official response from the brand to the mounting criticism. There was no explanation, no apology, and no mention of the negotiation which had quietly begun between the company and its biggest fan. The Response You can imagine what happened next. Nutella fans found the brand’s global Facebook Page and unleashed their fury.

And yet, for five days and 317 comments, Ferrero said nothing.

The Result

The story of a brand senselessly harassing one of its biggest fans – and her thousands of supporters worldwide – caught the attention of the Huffington Post, Social Media Today, and even Time magazine.

Finally, on May 22, two days before Rosso had to shut down her websites, Ferrero released a short statement on its Facebook Page. It read, in part:

“Ferrero would like to express to Sara Rosso its sincere gratitude for her passion for Nutella, gratitude which is extended to all fans of the World Nutella Day.

Ferrero is pleased to announce that today, after contacting Sara Rosso and finding together the appropriate solutions, it immediately stopped the previous action.

Ferrero considers itself fortunate to have such devoted and loyal fans of its Nutella spread, like Sara Rosso.”

Rosso posted the news on her blog as well, saying that “They were very gracious and supportive and we were able to have a productive discussion about World Nutella Day living on for the fans, which is the whole point.”

And World Nutella Day was saved.

The Takeaway

How can you avoid a similar PR disaster? It’s pretty simple:

- Respect the Superfans

Is something called “World Nutella Day” trademark infringement? I don’t think it matters. Sara Rosso loves Nutella so much that she created a special day of celebration to encourage people around the world to try it. There’s no downside to this. Ferrero should have rewarded Rosso, not punished her.

- Respond Quickly

All the public had to go on was Rosso’s blog post. No one heard Ferrero’s side of the story because it made no statements on its numerous websites or social channels. The company stayed silent even as the press picked up the story.  

- Don’t Let Legal Do the Steering

Ferrero’s legal team probably saw only a violation of trademark. The marketing department, I imagine, saw a wonderful grassroots celebration of its brand. If the two departments had discussed the matter before taking action, they might have come up with a compromise – perhaps asking Rosso to put “TM” after every mention of Nutella. Instead, the marketing and social teams were forced to deal with legal’s short-sightedness.

- Know When You’ve Made a Mistake

Ferrero expressed “gratitude” towards Rosso, but not towards her supporters, and it never apologized for its actions or its silence. Ferrero tried to excuse itself by referring to “misuse of the Nutella brand on the fan page,” whatever that means. The statement is vague and defensive, as if the company can’t quite figure out what it did wrong. But there are 317 Facebook comments telling it exactly that.

The eighth annual World Nutella Day will take place on February 5, 2014. I’ll be celebrating it. And I have a feeling Ferrero will be, too.

Need help navigating the new social media landscape? Brandemix specializes in social media for customer service, branding, and recruiting. If you’d like to reduce your risk of a PR disaster, we’d love to hear from you.

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Bonus Reel: Applebee's Biggest PR Mistake

Brandemix Director of Interactive Branding reveals Applebee's biggest mistake of its fateful night.

Read the original post here.

Social Media PR Disasters: Applebee's Wild Night

You probably know about the Applebee’s waitress who was fired for posting a customer’s receipt that had a derogatory statement on it. You may not be aware of the aftermath, which took place in the wee hours of Saturday, February 2. It’s virtually a textbook example of what not to do in a PR crisis.

The Brand

Applebee’s

·      3.8 million Facebook likes

·      85,700 Twitter followers

·      279,000 YouTube views

The Incident

Around noon on Friday, Applebee’s issued an official statement about the firing on its Facebook page, explaining that posting a customer’s name was a violation of its policies. Defenders of the waitress rushed to Facebook to complain, noting that Applebee’s itself had posted a photo of a customer’s name on Facebook – though that customer’s note was positive. Rather than address the issue, Applebee’s deleted the photo. And the company remained silent as the negative comments mounted, surpassing 17,000 after midnight.

The Problem

At 2:53 a.m., whoever runs Applebee’s Facebook page suddenly began replying to the comments. Worse, instead of making a big, clear announcement with a new post, Applebee’s replied in the comments of its original post, where it was quickly buried under hundreds of new complaints. Even worse, Applebee’s committed a cardinal sin of social media by deleting some negative comments and blocking select people from commenting. This, of course, led to a new round of criticism and mockery.

Screen shot courtesy of R.L. Stollar

The Response

It was now after 3 a.m. Did Applebee’s issue an apology and call it a night? No, the restaurant began posting the same boilerplate reply over and over, tagging negative commenters’ names to make sure they would see it. The commenters then decried the repetitive posts. Applebee’s continued with the cut-and-paste replies, sometimes tagging individual commenters and pleading for understanding. One critic responded: “Stop insulting us by claiming we got our facts wrong…if there is some specific information we do not have that will correct the record, then either share it or continue to hide behind your lawyers.”

The Result

At almost 4:30 a.m., Applebee’s stopped making comments and finally posted an official status update – a bland non-apology for the “unfortunate situation.” 2,000 negative comments to that update followed. Applebee’s then hid its original post, taking the 20,000 comments with it. People then accused the restaurant of deleting criticism. The saga didn’t end until the following evening; one blogger estimated that Applebee’s three status updates had garnered more than 40,000 comments – almost all of them negative.

Screen shot courtesy of R.L. Stollar

The Takeaway

How can you avoid a similar PR disaster? Let me count the ways…

- Reply During Daylight Hours

There is no reason to post a major update at 3 o’clock in the morning. At best, you’re unlikely to reach your intended audience. At worst, you may find the late-night crowd a little more ornery then others.  

- Make Statements Clear

Facebook doesn’t make every comment visible, so Applebee’s replies were quickly bumped off the page. Instead, the company should have posted new status updates, which stand out and look official.

- Don’t Lose Your Cool

Another mistake was switching from “we” to “I”: “No one’s asking me to comment at 5 am. I am because I care, we care.” Was that Applebee’s speaking or just one of its employees? Or its PR firm? Statements like that only confuse the situation.

- Don’t Put Your Social Media in the Hands of an Intern

I doubt that Applebee’s official PR firm or marketing department was posting at 3 a.m. It’s tempting to let the summer intern handle your social channels, but disasters like this should make you reconsider who’s in charge of these very important public communications outlets.

At the same time, a similar debacle took place on Twitter, showing that Applebee’s truly needs to re-evaluate its social media strategy – and its personnel.

Is your social media in the best hands? Brandemix specializes in social media for customer service, branding, and recruiting. If you’d like to reduce your risk of a PR disaster, we’d love to hear from you.

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