Lawyers for hazelnut spread company Nutella sent and then, upon social media pressure, rescinded, a cease and desist letter to a fan who had the nerve to set up  a World Nutella Day page on Facebook.  Attorneys for parent company Ferrero initially claimed that spread lover Sara Rosso’s Facebook page and accompanying “holiday” misused the Nutella brand.

The World Nutella Day Facebook page boasts over 40,000 likes.  Fans took to social media to support Rosso in her short-lived legal battle. Lawyers eventually learned a valuable non-legal lesson-that you can possibly win the battle and lose the war-and caved to digital pressure by withdrawing the letter.  They then thanked Rosso publicly for her support of the brand and said they consider themselves lucky to have such devoted Nutella followers.  They called the legal mishap “a routine brand defense procedure that was activated as a result of some misuse of the Nutella brand on the fan page,” according to Digiday.

Goes to show that the power of social media to sway corporations and branding decisions as strong as ever.  We will continue to report on such social media brand blunders as they happen.  Now where’s that Nutella?

It seems like the use of Graphics Interchange Format or GIF technology has become all the rage lately in making animated looping six-second videos on Vine.  What we didn’t know was that this GIF technology was 25 years old and how to pronounce GIF in the first place.   Lingering questions about the correct pronunciation were answered earlier this week when the GIF creator won a Webby Award and said just the time-allotted five word acceptance speech of “It’s pronounced JIF, not GIF.”

A good brand creative and strategist knows when to strike when the iron is hot and peanut butter brand Jif knew exactly how to seize on this opportunity.  A simple tweet of “It’s pronounced Jif” caused so many Twitter users to engage the brand and Jif interacted with most every tweeter.  @BrettMyDude69 wrote that “@Jif has the best peanut butter. FACT.” to which the brand thanked him for being such a great f

“It’s pronounced jif.” – inventor of GIF “No, it’s not.” – inventor of the letter G,” wrote Brandon Hay.  ”It looks like the creator is choosy,” replied Jif, cheekily.

Well done, Jif!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/index.html

http://mashable.com/2013/05/22/jif-gif/

The company that once taught the world to sing in perfect harmony has recently come up with an amazing campaign that has brought together Pakistani and Indian citizens-albeit briefly-through a beverage vending machine.  The concept of “Small World Machines” places one vending machine in Pakistan and another in India.  The machines acted as communication portals where, among other things, one individual could see the other and touch hands, create art and take photographs.  After the interaction, the machines dispensed a soda.

The ad agency, Leo Burnett, created and used 3D touchscreen technology that projected live, streaming video feeds onto each machine.  At the same time, the machine filmed through it to capture an exchange between individuals.  The result is a beautiful moment that reminds us that despite religious and ethnic differences, we are much more similar than not.  Jackie Jantos, global creative director at Coca-Cola, said the campaign really went back to the company’s roots of being a beverage shared together at a soda fountain shop.

The three minute video piece ends with the slogan of “Open Happiness.”

The machines are no longer in Pakistan and India and are en route back to headquarters in Atlanta.  Coca-Cola plans to bring the machines to other countries embroiled in conflict, but did not specify which nations.

We’ll drink to that!

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/coke-s-attempt-unite-indians-pakistanis/241561/

Discretion and confidentiality are words that come to mind when one thinks of substance abuse rehabilitation and treatment.  That is why we were so intrigued by the Passages Addiction Treatment Centers’ recent announcement of the launch of a “Sobriety, Health and Wellness” survey utilizing only social media channels.

“We are always looking for new ways to engage with the addiction treatment community and to get feedback regarding sobriety, what’s working for people, and what isn’t,” said Pax Prentiss, CEO and co-founder of Passages, in a press release.  The survey will take place over a two-week time frame.  Passages’ administrative staff will be looking for feedback from those in recovery, Passages’ staff and graduates of the program and those considered “fans” of the rehabilitation brand.  The ideas generated from this social media survey will be used to improve upon the rehabilitation experience.  Passages asks anyone that is interested in providing feedback concerning recovery to post such comments on their Facebook page.

The use of this survey brings up the larger issue of whether social media is appropriate as a venue for anyone who works in a field where confidentiality or client/professional privilege is required.  Granted, this survey is asking the public for ideas on how to improve quality of care.  We would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

This blog is devoted to when companies use social media to its benefit to boost presence and brand appeal.  Conversely, we like to show when brands are using digital to its detriment to provide a teachable moment on what not to do with your brand.  We do understand in that in a 24/7 viral world where everyone is using social media there is a push to post frequently.  But sometimes it is best to take a pause as a social media marketing strategist and ask if your post is really pushing forward a positive message for your brand.  If it’s just tweeting for the sake of it, take a rest and wait for some better inspiration to come along.

In the realm of brands posting unnecessary and cringeworthy tweets, we found an article last week on Digiday that highlighted some major social media faux pas from major brands that likely have dedicated social media teams.  How and why these brands thought the following posts were funny or comical is beyond comprehension:

1) @Charmin provides an unattractive visual with the following tweet of “#thatawkwardmoment when you may have to deem the seat a biohazard. #tweetfromtheseat.”

2) @Walgreens provides an unnecessary use of social media with the following tweet of “Good Morning!”  Imagine if every brand did this with “good morning,” “good evening” or “have a great day?”  The simple credo of “if you don’t have anything interesting to say, don’t say anything” applies here.

3) Tums showing a picture of a tomato, basil and mozzarella dish with the following tweet of “How hard is it to make a yummy salad…”  A bottle of Tums’ Freshers is displayed in the lower right hand corner with the bubble quote of “It’s so capr-easy!”  No pun intended here, but this is cheesy at best.

You can see the five other examples of brands using social media in a ridiculous fashion by clicking on the Digiday article here.

Until tomorrow, have a great day!

Now infamous for being the first restauranteurs “fired” by Kitchen Nightmares’ star Gordon Ramsey on last Friday’s episode for being unable to work with Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, the owners of Amy’s Baking Company are currently embroiled in a social media nightmare where the owners are claiming their Facebook page has been hacked.

Last week’s episode ended with Ramsey walking away from the restaurant owners  and claiming he was unable to work with the Bouzaglos because they do not listen to criticism.  The owners of Amy’s Baking Company admitted to firing 100 employees and were alleged to have stolen tip money.  Since then, the couple reportedly took to social media to respond to critics.  Instead of replying in a calm and collected fashion, the person who posted on Amy’s Facebook page responded to critics in an increasingly bizarre and somewhat abusive fashion, callling detractors “trash”, “pathetic” and that “G-d was on their (Amy and Samy’s) side with Samy calling his wife “a jewel in the desert.”

In an interesting twist, Amy’s owners are now claiming their social media sites were hacked with the following post on Facebook: “Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy &Samy.”  This may be possible.  Highly doubtful, but you never know.  Remember that Anthony Weiner claimed his Twitter account was hacked before fessing up that he did, in fact, send pictures of his crotch to a follower on social media.

Amy’s needs to rebuild its brand by apologizing to its customers for letting this debacle deflect from the real business of serving quality food to the public.  They need to thank the customers that have stuck by them and the 50,000 plus Facebook fans that like them.  Then they need to get off social media and not allow themselves to be baited by those who expect to see them explode.  If they can’t do this, once the foot traffic of customers that will come into the restaurant to witness the madness subsides, the restaurant will be long for this world.

Our advice would be to make the big, public mea culpa and zip it.  If budget permits, bringing in a dedicated and experienced public relations person to rebuild the brand would be a good move, too.  So long as they don’t fire that person.

Last week we shared with you AT&T’s adorable Mother’s Day video of some chatty kids talking about how their mothers give them the best hugs.  This week, we learned about how CokeZero wanted to help those who failed to reach out and give their moms a Mother’s Day gift with a fun, social media contest.

Mother’s Day slackers were able to tweet their excuses why they missed Mother’s Day to @CokeZero using the hashtag #motherpieces.  Winners will get a framed, painted picture of themselves sent to mommy dearest.   Although the contest is now officially closed, you can check out the pictures of those who entered the competition here.

Now some of the faces shown are truly those that only a mother could love!

http://www.digiday.com/brands/cokezero-helps-jerks-who-forgot-mothers-day/

AT&T has hit a digital home run with the release of a Mother’s Day video that has a suit-clad gentleman asking kids in a classroom who gives the biggest hugs.  The unanimous answer, of course, is that mommies give the best ones.  After one girl says that her mom is a “really good snuggler”, another piping in that her mom “hugs her really tight” and an adorable little boy demonstrating his mother’s hugs with accompanying noise effects, the ad ends with “it’s not complicated, Happy Mother’s Day to the best mom ever.”

The video is part of a series of BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated” campaign for the phone company, according to an article on Ad Age.

You can personalize the card to your own mom at the link below and at the end of the video.  The clip will be up through Mother’s Day in case you want to add a digital component to your card giving this year or you just plain forgot to get out to the store in time to mail one.  You can send this digital card to mom through social media including Facebook or via email.

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

https://attmothersday.com/

Yesterday we wrote about JCPenney’s digital apology to consumers for, among other things, straying away from its long-held business practice of customers using coupons to a model of very low prices at all times.  Perhaps McDonald’s should be considering a digital apology for what was an opportunistic and exploitative move of jumping in on the story of Charles Ramsey’s rescue of abducted Amanda Berry in Cleveland.

Ramsey told reporters and 911 that he had just returned on his bicycle from McDonald’s when he heard a woman screaming next door.  He approached the house with his “half-eaten Big Mac” when Berry told him she was trapped with her baby and not allowed out by Ariel Castro.  He kicked in the bottom of the door and she crawled out of it baby in tow.  Police responded following a 911 call and three women, Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Georgina DeJesus, were all rescued after 10 years in captivity.

It was a short while before McDonald’s jumped in on the social media bandwagon with the following tweet: “We salute the courage of Ohio kidnap victims & respect their privacy. Way to go Charles Ramsey — we’ll be in touch.”  The company and a local franchise then attempted to reach out to Ramsey.

While Ramsey is a hero and should be applauded for his bravery and courage, McDonald’s could have reached out to him in a more low key manner.  To McDonald’s defense, they did tell reporters that they heard from an overwhelming amount of people on Twitter to do something for the man.

A commentary in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times called McDonald’s move a “shameless move on McDonald’s part to grab a piece of the publicity surrounding this incredible and heartbreaking story. McDonald’s played no role in the rescue other than being the low-cost, high-calorie food that Ramsey happened to be eating at the time of the occurrence.”  The LA Times article further states that the company could have been more “discreet” in reaching out to Ramsey.

We reported several weeks back about social media “specialists” at the Epicurious website that tweeted the following the morning after the Boston bombings: “In honor of Boston and New England may we suggest: whole-grain cranberry scones!”  They also tweeted: “Boston our hearts are with you.  Here’s a bowl of breakfast energy we could all use to start today.”

While McDonald’s tweet is not as noxious as Epicurious’ double social media faux pas, it does seem, for a lack of a better word, predatory.  Reach out to Ramsey privately.  Or if you find it necessary to promote this news event just a little, reach out to a local Cleveland news camera crew to capture video of the local franchisee honoring Ramsey.  To tweet a “shout out” to Ramsey to your 1.2 followers of @McDonald’s is overtly and offensively self-promoting.

Ramsey, rather than McDonald’s, deserves media attention and will likely get an overwhelming amount of it.  The Huffington Post has already written an article titled “Charles Ramsey Future: What Lies Ahead for the Hero Turned Internet Sensation.” He has been called a “casual hero and spontaneous satirist” by Russell Brand on Twitter.  The guy is just hilarious.

McDonald’s, on the other hand, should take note not to do this in the future.

JCPenney is looking to reconnect with its customers in the wake of a 25 percent sales slump last year and the recent replacement of CEO Ron Johnson after leading the company for a mere 17 months.  To that end, it has released a very public mea culpa utilizing traditional and social media outlets admitting mistakes and asking customers to return to the brand.

As part of the campaign to win back the hearts and minds of the American consumer, it has released an advertisement on television, Facebook and YouTube. “We heard you-now we’d love to see you,” says the female narrator.  The Facebook campaign titled “We Are Listening” garnered almost 57,000 likes in just six days and approximately 3,700 Facebook users shared the video with other users of the social media platform.

JCPenney also took to Twitter with the hashtag #jcplistens.  Star Jones, former co-host of The View, tweeted her support of the campaign and praised the company’s fashions as good for working women.  Jones, branding guru Donny Deutsch and Padma Lakshmi all gave positive feedback about the new apology campaign during NBC’s Today Show.

Everybody likes a good comeback.  It would be nice to see one happen for this iconic, yet affordable, American company that first opened its doors in Wyoming in 1902.  With over 1,100 stores now in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, many livelihoods are depending on a rebound.