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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMcDonald's Twitter Campaign Backfires
While McDonald's own tweets on the topic tended along the lines of "When u make something w/pride, people can taste it," actual customers were less inclined to toe the company line. "I haven't been to McDonalds in years, because I'd rather eat my own diarrhea," read one top tweet by @Muzzafuzza. Another user, @Jetsonjetsonjet, referred readers toa viral video of a mouse crawling through a bag of hamburger buns.
Meanwhile, animal rights activist @michellevegan tweeted that "@McDonalds scalds baby chicks alive for nuggets," and linked to a site run by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It was retweeted more than 100 times.
Yes, it appears McDonald's lost control of the narrative here.
Such dangers are inherent in using social media to promote your brand. Sometimes it's an isolated gaffe, as when the marketing professional running the Chrysler Twitter feed inadvertently tweeted his distaste for Detroit drivers. But trying to enlist the masses on Twitter or Facebook for brand promotion carries its own set of risks. When Wendy's paid to promote the #HeresTheBeef hashtag last year, users responded with bawdy innuendo and other tweets completely unrelated to hamburgers. And in the summer of 2010, Coca-Cola(KO) was forced to apologize when a complicated social media contest for Dr. Pepper resulted in a pornographic reference being posted to a teenager's Facebook page.
http://business-news.thestreet.com/sj-r/story/mcdonalds-twitter-campaign-backfires/11380915
underpants
(182,950 posts)I mean that from a marketing sense. They are geniuses at marketing. A co-worker of mine told me that the song in the background on a Big Mac commercial is a Craig Mack song - sinks it into your head.
The "Snack Wrap" -- say it 3 times fast - it sounds like Snack Crap....which it is.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Sure, the quality of propaganda can vary. But if you're going to get very small children clamoring for bad food, aren't chutzpah and disregard for humanity more important than how smart you are? I would think true genius would consist in refusing to market slop to babes, and otherwise doing the right thing. Let's say, withdrawing from the market altogether and offering the restaurants to local operators? (Some of them might offer worse menus, most of them are bound to be better.) I think that would be genius, and what you're describing is mere cunning.
MattBaggins
(7,905 posts)singing folksy songs about space man stew and apple orchards and what not.
underpants
(182,950 posts)but when my now 6 year old was just under 3 we were driving by a McDonalds and she said "MACDONALDS!" - how did she know about McD's? they are one of the three sponsors on PBS of Curious George. McD, Amazon, and Chucky Cheese. I remember when the Republicans forced PBS to take corporate sponsorship - at that moment I understood why.
tridim
(45,358 posts)These are (admittedly nice) $3000 guitars marketed directly to the 99% with the tagline "Select Guitars for Select people".
Every time they post about them I go off about how 99% of their readers aren't "Select people", so why bother advertising them?
hunter
(38,337 posts)XemaSab
(60,212 posts)fishwax
(29,149 posts)underpants
(182,950 posts)Zalatix
(8,994 posts)[img][/img]
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)They use underproducing laying hens for McBalls. Beaks, feet and feathers go one way, everything else goes the other. They're ground up finer than sand and come out as a pink slurry. That's bleached to make it look like cooked chicken, thrown into playdough molds (they have six shapes) and then frozen, breaded, and frozen again. YUM!
edhopper
(33,639 posts)"It's the Egg McMuffun of" ad. They are trying to get a new meme going, like "it's the Cadillac of..."
But all I think of is "Oh, it's crap and makes you sick all day."
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)Cheap hamburger on a cheap bun. I make my wife's with Swiss cheese and Heinz 57 sauce.