1. S cial Media
Disasters

2. Social Media Disasters 1/5
HONDA PRODUCT MANAGER GETS CAUGHT ASTROTURFING
When Honda decided to publish its upcoming Crosstour photos
on Facebook, it should be ready for some serious feedback. Within a
short time, its fan page was flooded with negative comments regarding
the look of Honda’s new CUV. It was clear that most “fans” were not too
thrilled with the new design. But not too long later, we saw some really
positive comments about the model. Lo and behold, they came from
Honda’s product manager who didn’t disclose his own relationship
with the company until the angry crowd called him out.
Lessons learnt
Go on, use social media to promote
your products but if you do get a
bad feedback, DON’T TRY TO
MANIPULATE IT. Social media users
are savvy enough to expose you if
they want to. Social media does not
condone AstroTurfing. HONESTY
AND AUTHENTICITY are critical to
be successful in this space!

3. Social Media Disasters 2/5
TACO BELL GETS VIRAL, BUT NOT BECAUSE OF THE FOOD
What happens when your brand gets its 15 minutes of fame on
YouTube, but for the wrong reason? This is exactly what Taco Bell went
through. A video of rats running around a Taco Bell’s store in New York
was posted on YouTube. Just minutes after, duplicates and new versions
started to spread across the web and till this date, these videos have
been viewed approximately 2 million times. As a result, customers raised
concerns about its cleanliness and Taco bell’s stock price and 7,000
franchisees sales were affected.
Lessons learnt
Monitoring social media buzz is
essential especially for the big brands.
When necessary, IMMEDIATE
RESPONSE SHOULD BE MADE AND
PREFERABLY THROUGH THE SAME
SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS. In the case
of Taco Bell, an apology is required and
with proper use of social media, it
should be able to regain consumer
trust.

4. Social Media Disasters 3/5
ASUS BLOGGER CONTEST ANGERED BLOGGER COMMUNITY
Computer manufacturer, Asus hosted a sponsored contest where
participating bloggers wrote reviews for its products for a chance to win
the Asus review kit. The community voted for a blogger named Gavyn
Britton, a choice Asus wasn’t so keen on. Hence, Asus decided to
change the rules of the competition and gave away the prize to another
blogger. This resulted in an outrage against the Taiwanese computer
manufacturer, and the story went mainstream as well.
Lessons learnt
Social media is all about
TRANSPARENCY. You cannot wiggle your
way out of it and give the prize to
someone your community didn’t
choose. Let me emphasize this
again, SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT ABOUT
BEING IN CONTROL. If you are going to
be a control freak, stay in a relationship
with traditional media.

5. Social Media Disasters 4/5
DOMINO’S EMPLOYEES YOUTUBE THEMSELVES TO COURT
Two brilliant Domino’s Pizza employees thought it was funny to film
themselves abusing takeaway food and breaking the hygiene
standards in one of Domino’s Pizza store kitchen. The video was
uploaded on YouTube (another wise move) and received more than one
million views before it was pulled down. But as all businesses should
understand, you can try to remove the negative traces but it can still be
found somewhere else in the social media space.
This scandal resulted in a multi-million dollar loss and caused great
damage to Domino’s 50 year old brand reputation. Criminal cases had
been filed against the employees while Domino’s CEO used none other
than YouTube to make a sincere apology for the incident.
Lessons learnt
Your EMPLOYEES ARE ALSO USERS OF SOCIAL MEDIA. They can
generate content as well as anyone else and have the power to
smear your 50-year reputation. Whatever little we can do, we
should. It is important to educate employees about the use of
social media and its impact.
Luckily, Domino’s was FAST IN RESPONDING to this scandal. It
immediately created its very own Twitter account to promote
positive coverage and address customers’ concerns. A YouTube
video apology, featuring the CEO was also posted in an attempt
to repair part of the damage.

6. Social Media Disasters 5/5
BELKIN REP PAYS FOR POSITIVE REVIEW
One representative from Belkin, a global manufacturer of computer
hardware, was caught offering money to anybody who posted a 100%
positive review of certain Belkin products . He also asked the reviewers
to vote down negative comments on Amazon.com and other e-
commerce sites.
An angry crowd forced Belkin president Mark Reynoso to issue a press
release. Even though Reynoso insisted that this was an isolated
incident, The Daily Background discovered a second Belkin employee
making false Belkin product reviews.
Lessons learnt
Do companies really think that FALSE REVIEWS are able
to turn the situation around for bad products? This is
certainly not a long term solution for any business. If
consumers hate your products, just face it and move
on. THE SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIENCE ISN’T REALLY VERY
FORGIVING WHEN IT COMES TO DISHONESTY.

7. Quelles conséquences pour un
mauvais buzz ?
• L'impact négatif d'une opération ratée de marketing
viral reste généralement temporaire et assez limité
pour une marque. "Un mauvais buzz est toujours très
ennuyeux mais ne tue pas une marque pour
autant", estime Grégory Pouy. L'image négative
générée par un plantage en ligne laisse cependant des
traces et vient s'ajouter au passif de la marque. "Le
Web a une mémoire", rappelle le directeur en charge
du social media de Nurun. Selon lui, les internautes ne
manqueront pas de rappeler ses faux pas à une
marque le moment venu. De quoi ne pas oublier que
toute propagation virale n'est pas forcément positive.