Death By Twitter: Rules & Lessons

My continuing editions of "Death By Twitter" have seen all types of fatalities due to stupid, offensive or otherwise not-so-Tweetable Tweets.  Whether it be a sports mascot, an Olympic athlete or a kitchen appliance, the Twittersphere  finds victims in all areas.

It seems the holidays is not turning out any differently.  Last week was particularly harsh on the world of social media. There have been severalfaux pas on Twitter the past week, from Nikki Finke's (Entertainment journalist and founder of Deadline.com) tweet following the death of Nelson Mandela that read...

to SpaghettiO's Pearl Harbor commemoration...

  

While I feel these are on two opposite ends of the spectrum, I want to take a different approach this "Death By Twitter" entry.  Instead of detailing the stories of Nikki Finke and SpaghettiO's and the backlash they received, let's try to take away a lesson.  While the tweets seem different in sentiment, they do have something in common.  Each took a tragic event and made it about something else.  Promotion.  While inserting your brand into a current event has proved viable for some (Oreo!!)  when war, famine or death are involved, it's safe to say that making the event about your brand is not wise. 

Use that rule of thumb when thinking about posting to commemorate events or pay respects.  After all, showing selflessness, even in something as small as a tweet, can go a long way.

What other "Rule Of Thumb" do you see playing out in Twittersphere?

Rule #1: Don't use Tragedy as a Marketing Ploy

Thoughts and prayers going out this week to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Tragedies such as this leave many social media users in a sticky situation.  This week, a few companies have been ridiculed for not being sensitive enough to those affected by Sandy.

Possibly the worst offender was American Apparel, who sent an email blast for a "Hurricane Sandy Sale'' - targeting its price cuts to just those on the east coast. Even with the promise of "20% off", Twittersphere did not approve.

Gap followed suit with a slightly less aggressive move, attaching well wishes in the same tweet as a call to action for online shopping. Similar backlash ensued.

Call me naive, but I don't believe that either of these companies had entirely bad intentions when making these moves.  Their vision, however, was short sighted. Tying the company's profit to their sentiment of compassion made them seem inauthentic.  And that doesn't sit well in social media.

A better idea would have been to send the same sentiment but with a promotion donating portions of any online sales that day directly to those affected.  See what that does?  By changing the benefactor of the promotion from the company to those who are in need, you can align the organization with the concern.

 

The line between relevance and self-promotion can be thin.  Do you think these companies went too far?