There is no denying the power of social media.
In case you haven’t heard by now, Johnson & Johnson was confronted by a backlash from mothers last weekend on Twitter in regards to Motrin’s latest viral advertisement. The turn spread to various blogs and to YouTube like a wildfire, which caused J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit to pull the ad and issue an apology, which can be viewed here.
Similar to Jeremiah Owyang’s opinion in his blog post on the Motrin Mom Backlash by the Numbers, at first glance I did not understand the offense these moms were taking with Motrin. The ad was an attempt to connect with mothers through the common experience of carrying a child. Apparently however, these moms had taken offense to the ad because it was seen as condescending, and implied moms wear their babies as a fashion accessory, or because it makes them look like an “official mom.” The original video can be viewed here.
What ensued can best be described as a wildfire of public outcry against Motrin. The Twitter topic trends exploded (the number one and number two spots belonging to #Motrin and #MotrinMoms, respectively, according to Twitter Search). The blogs exploded with people, especially moms, taking stances on both sides of the argument, both in defense of Motrin, and those attacking it. What resulted was a 9-minute backlash video, which can be viewed here.
So what have we learned from this? Probably the most obvious lesson learned is that you should always have staff on hand to be prepared to respond during the weekend. This is important because the blogs exploded over the weekend, and Motrin was without a chance to respond until Monday, and by then enough damage had been done.
Regardless of which side you take on the issue, you cannot deny the power social media has in putting your brand back in the hands of the consumer, and ultimately the power social media has to enhance, or destroy a brand.
Will Motrin be able to recover? It is still too soon to tell.
