Reflection on Social Media Case 1: McDStories

Whoever said, “All publicity is good publicity” has never analyzed the effects of the #McDStories on Twitter. This campaign had good intentions that happy customers would share their happy stories, and everything would by sunshine and rainbows but, that just wasn’t the case. This campaign backfired faster than the vomit and food poisoning that some people on Twitter claimed that they got from McDonald’s. It’s hard to fully understand exactly what the company executives were thinking when they launched this campaign, but I think it’s safe to say that they did not think it through.

              One of the biggest issues that contributed to the backlash of this campaign was that it was introduced specifically for Twitter. Twitter users are notorious for tearing issues apart in 140 (or now 280) characters or less. Twitter is a platform that allows people to be ruthless when sharing their opinion about any hot button topic. This campaign might have been more successful if they introduced it on a different platform, such as a TV commercial. The issue with #McDStories is that it was impossible to control the narrative because obviously, McDonald’s could not control what was being said on Twitter. If they had issued a commercial that showed a father and daughter eating chicken nuggets or a Big Mac together at different times in their lives, which created special memories, then McDonald’s would be in control of the narrative that they intended. However, even TV commercials can ignite backlash from not only people on Twitter but all other social media platforms. In 2017, Pepsi ran a commercial that featured Kendall Jenner ending a large protest simply by handing a police officer a can of Pepsi. For maybe the first time ever, the internet was united in believing that this commercial was garbage. Of course, it was not Pepsi’s intention to make light of protests that had taken place around the world but that’s how it came across. It’s apparent that you can never plan on how people will respond to these ads.

              Ron Wion, McDonald’s USA social media director, made a statement that the hashtag didn’t go as planned so they shut it down as quickly as they could. I commend McDonald’s for this. Although they didn’t have control of the situation at the beginning, they seized control in about 2 hours. I imagine this was a great learning experience not only for McDonald’s but for companies everywhere. That goes to say that no matter how successful a company may be, pleasing everyone is just simply, not on the menu.   

https://www.wired.com/2017/04/pepsi-ad-internet-response/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222691