The third Mountain Dew advertisement in the "Felicia the Goat" trilogy, by Tyler, the Creator, was met with allegations of racism in the blogosphere and media. But, Crimson Hexagon's social media analysis finds that the voice of the consumer diverges from the brand crisis in the news media.

1. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW BRAND & C0MMERCIALS

2. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
On March 20th, Mountain Dew launched a three-part series
of commercials featuring “Felicia the Goat,” an angry
goat character and concept crafted by Tyler, the Creator,
frontman of rap collective Odd Future.

3. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
The final ad in the trilogy,
posted on March 24th,
sparked some controversy.
On May 1st, scholar and
writer Dr. Boyce Watkins
wrote an article that quickly
spread through social
channels, arguing that the
ad was the “most racist
commercial in history.”

4. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
In the media, the allegations of
racism threatened to become a brand
crisis for Mountain Dew. But what
about the consumer voice?

5. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW: BRAND AFFINITY
Using Crimson Hexagon’s Forsight,
we analyzed 5,600 relevant tweets regarding
consumers’ opinions of Mountain Dew from
December 17, 2012 to June 12, 2013.

6. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW: BRAND AFFINITY
63% of the brand
conversation was
negative, mainly
with complaints
about the product
itself.

7. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW: BRAND AFFINITY
We examined consumer opinion from the 28th of April, four days
after the third ad launched, to the 4th of May, four days after Dr.
Boyce Watkins published his article online.
51% of the social
conversation praised
or quoted several of
the brand’s campaigns,
including “Felicia the
Goat.”

8. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
BRAND AFFINITY: MOUNTAIN DEW
On May 1st, the day Dr. Boyce
Watkins published his article,
99% of the brand conversation
on Twitter was positive, with
77% praising or quoting
ad campaigns.

9. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW: CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS
Mountain Dew Campaign Analysis
(3/20/13–6/12/13)•5,000Tweets
We also analyzed the campaign from the day the first ad was
launched (3/20/13) through June 2013.
60% of the overall
conversation was
positive, contrasting
with the media
portrayal of the
commercial as racist
and offensive.

10. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW: CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS
During the week that the third
commercial went up, before
Dr. Watkins posted his article,
94% of the overall
conversation surrounding the
ad campaign was positive.
Mountain Dew Campaign Analysis
(3/20/13–6/12/13)•5,000Tweets

11. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW: CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS
The following week, when
Dr. Watkins’ article
spread quickly on the
web, 76% of the nearly
3,000 relevant posts of
the social conversation
surrounding the ad
campaign were positive.
51% of that represented
consumers who felt that
people were overreacting
to the ad and expressed
disappointment that it
was pulled.

12. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MOUNTAIN DEW: KEY TAKEAWAYS
The majority of the brand conversation on Twitter was
negative both before and after the campaign.
The campaign did not significantly change the social
conversation and social brand affinity surrounding Mountain
Dew - Mountain Dew’s online brand reputation wasn’t
severely harmed.
The media expressed a different opinion than
Mountain Dew’s consumers.

13. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Crimson Hexagon, founded in 2007, is the leading provider of analysis
software that delivers business intelligence from social media data for global
corporations. Powered by patented technology developed at Harvard
University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, the Crimson Hexagon
ForSight™ platform delivers the industry’s most comprehensive Big Data
analysis capabilities for a variety of large-scale data sources. Clients include
leading global organizations such as: Microsoft, Samsung, Paramount
Pictures, General Electric, Starbucks, Twitter, and many more. For more
information go to: http://www.crimsonhexagon.com.
CRIMSON HEXAGON

14. PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
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