Facebook and Motrin Learn a Social Media Lesson
This post was made Dec 29, 2008 by Carlos del Rio
credit: Hamama Hareb [ DaDooDa ]
There is a major group of on the web that has very strong opinions, unrestrained passion, and the willingness to plaster the web & your company headquarters with their disapproval.Who is this powerhouse of web savvy movers? New moms.
In November Motrin put out a video implying that baby-wearing is fashionable. The worlds moms were not amused. Try searching Twitter for #motrinmoms. Twitter, YouTube, and blogs galore blasted Motrin; calling them callous for portraying a mom who wants to carry her baby but gets back pain.
In December Facebook decided that breasts are breasts, even if they have a baby attached. And the moms went to the streets. Over 78,000 breastfeeds have joined a Facebook group to petition against Facebook’s no breast rules. The moms feel that there should be an exception to the terms of service on the web to consider breastfeeding to be different than other breast-baring activities.
I think the coverage of these issues has missed something very important point of these issues: Who you are sending the message to vs. Who you are writing your message about.
Motrin’s advertising is about anyone who will buy Motrin, in this case women, and is about women who want to be fashionable. Their choice of baby carrying because it is a more noble fashion choice than stiletto heels. But, no one wants to abide implications that a baby is a self-serving decision. These moms responded by filling the Internet with #motrinmoms, #motingate, and numorous blogs etc. that took a brand that many people have low recognition with a put it in front of millions of eyes that probably found the advertisement more funny than offensive. The moms also filled the Internet with endorsements and reviews of baby carriers. Many of you are probably unaware that the makers of Motrin (Johnson & Johnson) were sued over possible side-effects of Childrens Motrin. Search Motrin Baby now. You probably won’t find the lawsuit. Creating a huge buzz and appologizing about a far less dire issue concerning babies has greatly deflated a former reputation issue while getting their brand out to a lot of people. Even though Motrin has offended the people their ad was about they have made a major accomplishiment in the column of general brand visibility.
When it comes to breastfeeding the it is not the big brand that is pushing a message, it is the niche community. Facebook is huge on the web; there are 1000′s of searches a day, and the news search for the last week is topped by breastfeeding. While the community is sending a message about Facebook they are sending a message to moms. Every article I have seen stresses the World Health Organization findings and recommendations about breastfeeding. For at least the near future the number of people exposed to breastfeeding are multiplied many-fold. Facebook, like most social media providers, is not obligated to police their content, but are well within their terms to ban and censor in anyway they see fit. They are not sending a message by enforcing their terms; still one group has turn a rather small act of a virtual breastfeed-in into a major social media win for their cause.
I urge you to think about who you are talking about and who you are talking to — relize one may be at the expense of the other. Also, don’t make mom jokes.
In my opinion I think these new moms really take things too personally. I’m glad that their complaints gave Motrin more recognition.