Horrible handling of Twitter comments leads to further reputation damage
It seems like we just discussed one big marketing blunder down under, but unlike that example, in this case the organization involved turned what was already a reputation ding into a full-blown mess.
Drawing negative attention
The makers of AussieMite stirred up a hornet’s nest when they commandeered an ad depicting a Communion wafer being dipped in their savory spread in the midst of a church ceremony. Predictably, offended Catholics took to social media to voice their displeasure, which is where the company should have realized it was in trouble. Instead, whoever runs the @Aussiemite Twitter account went on the defensive, breaking just about every rule of social media crisis management in the process with both original posts and replies.
Here’s a small sampling of the implosion in progress:
Please don’t waste energy being upset or angry, it’s simply not worth it. Again, we apologise if our ad has offended bit.ly/11cRAGG
— AussieMite (@Aussiemite) May 30, 2013
@niallsbigbooty_ no need to abuse us, but we forgive you. — AussieMite (@Aussiemite) June 2, 2013
Perhaps we should launch a new AussieMite wafer thin and donating a portion of proceeds to the Catholic Church! Again, no offense intended. — AussieMite (@Aussiemite) May 30, 2013
@red_lofty thanks Alex, we hear you. It’s rather sad and upsetting – our heart goes out to these innocent victims tiny.cc/jq7vxw
— AussieMite (@Aussiemite) May 30, 2013
No, you don’t need your eyes checked
Yes, the people at AussieMite really were not only completely unapologetic and rude to already-angry stakeholders, but also brought up the issue of child abuse by Catholic priests as some sort of hackneyed, backwards defense. Compounding the situation, AussieMite as a brand is barely a year old, and has only the most minimal of fan support to lean back on.
We initially thought that whoever was running the account would be sacked and blame laid at their feet, but the company was apparently just fine with what’s been going on because @Aussiemite continued to post in similar tones for days, and continues to publicly demand news sites pull embedded video of the ad.
Our advice?
Get in control of all of your social media accounts and rein in whoever’s been posting. In fact, right now not posting at all is probably the right call. If AussieMite stops adding fuel to the fire, this story could be all but blown over by the end of the week. Of course there will be holdouts, especially from offended religious groups, but the amount of negative public attention the brand is attracting would be vastly decreased, and given time (and a lack of further rage-inducing ads) it just won’t matter to most consumers.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/