Social Media Misfires
5 in 5 - Brave & Heart HeartBeat #157 ❤️
This week we’re doing a deep dive on the best, and by definition also worst, social media misfires and fails from LinkedIn influencers, brands, hiring companies, and HBO’s intern.
From the person you never thought would be getting a mention in an “inspirational” post to Amazon Ring really not reading the room on TikTok, and what happens when you don’t proofread your job postings (and you’re a terrible person).
Plus, when to consider being quiet.
Let’s get into it.
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#1 LinkedIn Influencers Gone Wild
If you thought LinkedIn influencers couldn’t get any worse, you’ve got another thing coming.
In a recent LinkedIn post titled “Friday Inspiration”, an associate director in the company Deloitte’s risk advisory department and aspiring LinkedIn influencer, praised the “confident” and “intellectual” “action taker”… Adolf Hitler.
As Vice magazine noted in their article covering the subject, he was of course famously decisive when he decided to start World War II and systematically murder millions of people on the grounds of their religion, sexuality and disabilities.
Mr Deloitte Employee, as we’ll be referring to him, wrote his post in the recognizably energetic style that we so often see on LinkedIn, albeit usually about waking up at five am, not posting apologist statements about perpetrators of genocide.
He praised his “energetic and patriotic speeches” and literally ended his post with “heil Hitler”. Not cool, Deloitte Employee, not cool at all.
After receiving quite serious backlash from LinkedIn users he had asked to “sound off in the comments”, Deloitte Employee deleted his post and apologized for its content. While Deloitte have not responded to requests for a statement, Deloitte Employee has now deleted his LinkedIn account, so make of that what you will.
As a member of the risk advisory department, he should probably have advised himself against doing that.
#2 - Safety vs Parcel Delivery – What’s More Important?
Amazon have been criticised for a video posted by their official Amazon Ring TikTok account which shows an Amazon delivery driver being threatened by a bear - and then successfully delivering his parcel.
Surely the caption said something like, wow, our delivery drivers have to work in such difficult conditions, definitely in the future don’t put your safety at risk - we appreciate you!
Wrong. The post is captioned “This @Amazon delivery driver was confronted by a bear and he knew exactly what to do next. #bear #ringcam.” Which he did – following the national park guidelines on what to do if you encounter a bear, he raised his arms to make himself look bigger. This scared the bear away, and he was able to deliver his parcel.
We could just see this post as the innocent sharing of a crazy moment and hey, where’s the harm in praising this guy for his bravery and knowing what to do in the face of an angry bear?
However, the sentiment behind the post seems to be that Amazon take pride in the fact that their delivery drivers would rather continue doing their job, even if it meant risking their lives. Not to mention the fact that Amazon drivers have actually been killed by animals while working in the past.
This is an especially off kilter post in the context of the class action lawsuit which is currently being held against Amazon in which they are being sued for inhumane conditions, as drivers are unable to pull over to use the bathroom due to penalties incurred on their pay for time taken off their route.
Maybe the delivery driver in the video, who we can hear being told by the customer not to deliver the parcel because, well, there’s literally a bear in her driveway, didn’t feel that he had the choice not to. The post suddenly seems a lot darker, doesn’t it?
#3 Don’t Share With Candidates
A tech firm recently “nuked their online presence” according to Vice magazine, after listing a job posting on Indeed in which they forgot to remove a section marked “note”.
This section read, verbatim: “note: Only Born US Citizens [White] who are local within 60 miles from Dallas, TX [Don't share with candidates]”. Ouch.
The job posting, obviously including the name of the company, was shared all over social media, where it was described as “illegal” and “nauseating” – of which it is certainly both. It’s also highly stupid of whoever posted it, but that’s the least of our worries here.
Online commenters noted that the customers listed on their website include the US Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of Treasury, and the IRS. Other clients such as the IT Company HTC Global have been asked by Vice to comment on the situation, which we’re sure they really appreciate. They didn’t comment, by the way, (probably too busy firing their tech agency).
The company then kept that ball of disaster rolling when they posted a LinkedIn post not at all apologizing for the post, but blaming it first on a new employee, and then on a disgruntled former employee who “added discriminatory language” to an existing post and then posted it himself. Sounds very likely…
I mean sure, what else where they supposed to do, own up to being racist? It has to be said there is literally no way to salvage this – and it doesn’t look like they have, because as of right now their Twitter and Facebook pages have been disabled, their website removed, and calls to the company go straight to voicemail.
Don’t Be Racist And Don’t Be Stupid And Definitely Don’t Be Both
#4 - Bud Light – For Bigots Or Not?
Another brand have faced backlash linked with TikTok, but this time TikTok is just the start, and it goes down a pretty winding road after that…
Bud Light partnered with a TikTok influencer for some paid partnership advertising, as is their right, and for once that’s not the bit we take issue with. The TikTok influencer in question is Dylan Mulvaney, a trans woman with a very wholesome TikTok and Instagram platform. But, because there is obviously a but here, following their partnership with Mulvaney Bud Light managed to get their PR SO wrong that they got on the wrong side of pretty much everyone.
They first faced “backlash” (if you can call it that) from the far right, who were unsurprisingly unhappy with their decision to partner with an LGBTQ public figure. One of the most notable online response from critics came from Kid Rock, of all people, who posted a video of himself shooting at Bud Light bottles in protest.
The Budweiser company’s response to this backlash has been described by Britains driest export to the US, comedian John Oliver, as “maddening”. Their response can be seen as capitulating to the pressure from the QAnon-ing masses attacking their decision to partner with Mulvaney. The CEO issued a statement saying, “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer”,
Oliver noted that this might have been a good time to take a stance in support of trans people, and say their beer is “not for bigots”, rather than the CEO offering up plausible deniability. This was then followed by the launching of an advertisement which was clearly designed to appeal to traditionalist America - full of horses, rolling hills and cowboy types - and described by John Oliver as a ploy to “cozy up to” them.
While we can see where they’re coming from in that they’re a beer company, not political activists, the issue here is that you can’t play both sides of US culture against each other to get sales out of both of them. If you’re going to ask a trans woman to advertise your product, then you need to support her if, or when, she faces criticism. Especially from Kid Rock.
#5 - Why Sometimes You Shouldn’t Post
Last year, on the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the twin towers in New York, a PR website wrote an interesting article on whether, and how, your brand should post a tribute message.
Brands who have got it terribly wrong, with regards to 9/11 or any other solemn memorial day, have usually got one thing in common – trying to insert their brand into the story.
Examples given include the infamous AT&T Twitter post in which they showed an image of one of their phones taking a video of the memorial light show in 2013. They then removed the post and stated that the image was “solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the 9/11 tragedy”. It wasn’t though – adding your product into any image is an attempt to advertise it.
The worst example shared was that of a hot yoga studio who offered a 20% discount on the day because “9 + 11 = 20”. We have no words for this one.
Even brands who took a more subtle approach have faced backlash, as the use of a brand logo or brand colours in a tribute message can be seen as bad taste – a lesson learned the hard way by brands CVS and Pretty Little Thing. Why Pretty Little Thing, a fast fashion clothing brand mostly focused on tiny pink dresses and cut-out tops whose target audience wasn’t even alive during 9/11, would feel the need to post a 9/11 tribute, also makes the mind boggle.
The guide does note that brands with “profound connections” to the event can be seen as needing to speak up, such as one of the financial services firms which had offices in the North Tower, Cantor Fitzgerald, and American Airlines and United Airlines. Cantor Fitzgerald uses the day to make major donations to disaster relief charities, and United Airlines unveiled a memorial garden for their crew in 2021 – both appropriate tributes.
Finally, they end on this sage advice – it’s okay to say nothing. Taking a day off social media out of respect is one million times more appropriate than whatever message you were thinking of posting. The author signs off advising brands to “Be kind, be empathetic and consider being quiet” – amazing advice if we ever heard it.
Brave & Heart over and out.
Bonus
Dear Intern
When an intern at HBO accidentally sent out an empty test email to subscribers, twitter users chimed in with their own embarrassing intern mistakes.
After HBO announced the blank email was the work of their intern, people in all fields of work shared the worst mistakes they made as interns under the hashtag #dearintern, and some of them are fantastic.
Highlights include sending a link to a custom thank you video for a company’s board of directors which instead actually went to a very stupid video of a lady reviewing Cheetos on YouTube, and saying “our company cares about your wealth and hellness” instead of “health and wellness” on a webinar to 200 people.
An Embarassing Memory Shared Is An Embarassing Memory Halved
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