SeaWorld and Others Discover That a Hashtag Can Become a Bashtag 124
HughPickens.com writes Alison Griswold writes that in an effort to improve its tanking image, SeaWorld launched a new advertising campaign this week to educate the public about its "leadership in the care of killer whales" and other work to protect whales in captivity and in the wild. As part of that head-on initiative, someone at SeaWorld decided to invite Twitter users to pose their questions to the company directly using the hashtag #AskSeaWorld. That was not a good idea as twitter users bashed Sea World relentlessly.. "As easy as it is to make fun of SeaWorld here, the real question is why any company still thinks hosting an open Twitter forum could be good for public relations," writes Griswold. "So maybe SeaWorld's social and PR folks just really have no idea what they're doing. Even so, you'd think they'd have learned from the corporate failures before them."
Let's review some of the times this has backfired, starting with the infamous McDonald's #McDStories Twitter campaign of January 2012. Rather than prompting customers to share their heart-warming McDonald's anecdotes, the hashtag gave critics a highly visible forum to share their top McDonald's horror stories. MacDonalds pulled the campaign within two hours but they discovered that crowd-sourced campaigns are hard to control. Three years later the #McDStories hashtag is still gathering comments. "Twitter Q&As are a terrible idea.," concludes Griswold. "A well-meaning hashtag gives critics an easy way to assemble and voice their complaints in a public forum. Why companies still try them is a great mystery. Maybe they'll all finally learn from SeaWorld and give this one horrible PR trick up for good."
Let's review some of the times this has backfired, starting with the infamous McDonald's #McDStories Twitter campaign of January 2012. Rather than prompting customers to share their heart-warming McDonald's anecdotes, the hashtag gave critics a highly visible forum to share their top McDonald's horror stories. MacDonalds pulled the campaign within two hours but they discovered that crowd-sourced campaigns are hard to control. Three years later the #McDStories hashtag is still gathering comments. "Twitter Q&As are a terrible idea.," concludes Griswold. "A well-meaning hashtag gives critics an easy way to assemble and voice their complaints in a public forum. Why companies still try them is a great mystery. Maybe they'll all finally learn from SeaWorld and give this one horrible PR trick up for good."
Maybe it's time these companies learn... (Score:2)
Re: Maybe it's time these companies learn... (Score:5, Insightful)
Patrons are happy at Walmart and McDonalds, or they wouldn't patronize the establishments religiously. Yet these are two of the most "hated" brands for reasons that have nothing to do with the services they provide patrons.
Re: Maybe it's time these companies learn... (Score:5, Interesting)
I used to stop at QuikTrip convenience stores twice a day while doing my rounds, to get soft-drink refills and sometimes to buy beef jerky or other snacks. It didn't make me happy or improve my quality of life, I was doing it because it was very easy and had become one of my habits.
I don't hate QuikTrip now, but I did realize that I'm better off not patronizing them so much.
Re: Maybe it's time these companies learn... (Score:5, Insightful)
And if Walmart has the lowest prices in town (or maybe the ONLY prices in a small town), and if you're on a tight budget, you might not have a choice in where you shop, love it or hate it. It's like saying, "Wow, everyone must love the DMV, there's always a long line whenever I go!" :) Or as another example, I lived in Chicago for 5 years and I took public transportation everywhere, and I HATED it, but I hated the thought of driving in Chicago even more.
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So, you "have" to go to Walmart because Walmart is the only place that can offer you what you want at the price you want it? And then you make a comparison to the DMV? This is economic ignorance.
Please read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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No, he said the things you use at a price you can afford.. want isn't a factor.
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Absolute necessities, which is what you are both trying to refer to, are pretty rare. You have to do silly things like say "food is a necessity". Yes, but what food? At Walmart, Ramen is 17 cents. Filet mignon is $20/lb. What you choose in that spectrum is want. People go to Walmart because they can "buy up" for the same price. You probably will disagree, because you want to disagree, but when you look at demand for Walmart, it's pretty self-evident. Picking examples where Walmart is the only grocery/retail
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You use the word "habit" as if you couldn't help yourself. You yourself explain that you went there because it was very easy. They offered you the service you wanted. Then, later, you decided you didn't want it anymore, because your priorities changed.
Love AND hate (Score:5, Insightful)
Yet these are two of the most "hated" brands for reasons that have nothing to do with the services they provide patrons.
Disagree. They are loved AND hated for exactly the same reasons and often by the same people. People love low prices but hate the side effects of relentless focus on low prices like low wages. People love consistency and knowing what to expect but hate the monotony of those very same things. People love good service but hate paying for it. People love having jobs but hate working.
In short, people are bi-polar in their attitudes towards big corporations. It's not as simple as saying people love big corporations or hate them. It's both at the same time.
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Uh, yes?
You see this most prominently in video game forums. The fans that shell out money to buy the game are the loudest trolls on the forums. And they keep playing the games even as they post about how terrible they are. And they buy the sequels, and complain about those too.
This is a common human phenomenon. There are *also* groups of people who are happy and post enthusiastic comments without trolling. And there are *also* haters that just troll and never buy. But it is simply ignorant to believe
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This isn't a bad thing, either. Companies can improve their products and services by listening to the dissenting comments of their customers;
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[about McDonalds...] People love low prices
Maybe in the US but where I live (France) and in other countries I visited, McDonalds isn't cheap. In many cases local snacks and even small restaurants are cheaper and serve better food.
As for a reason why they are hated by their own patrons : take a group of people, each one have a list of place they are willing to eat and while no one has McDonald's as their first choice, it is on everyone's list. As a result the whole group may end up eating at McDonald's and while no one will be left out, no one will b
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If only there were Burger King to choose from. C'est la vie.
The first Burger King re-opened in France two years ago, they are now expanding.
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Most of the people who hate Walmart and McDonalds do not shop there and can afford not to shop there.
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Happy? Walmart and McDonalds can be called a lot of things (quick, convenient, cheap, easy, ubiquitous, habitual, exploitive), but those establishments don't exactly come across at happy place on earth. Most of the people I see in those places seem something other than "happy". But those places work for many as long as one doesn't think too much.
Re: Maybe it's time these companies learn... (Score:4, Funny)
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I always thought the meal was happy because it was finally getting out of that God-forsaken place. Even being hauled away to be dismantled by a shrieking 4-year old and being consumed piece-by-piece is better than remaining within the confines of a McDonalds establishment.
I'm joking. I think.
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Familiarity breeds contempt.
getting all http://images.slashdot.org/hc/73/cc9e9516b0d9.jpg about it.
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Walmart and McDonalds are most certainly hated for the products they provide. They're just big enough that they don't need to care. They can be viewed as crap by a large chunk of the population and still make money on what's left.
There are plenty of mindless bargain hunters and people with no taste.
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Pretty sure you just admitted Walmart and McDonalds meet the needs of a large segment of the market. You don't have to like either establishment. That's the beauty of a market system: it can cater to diverse needs.
In your case, there are plenty of places that will cater to your arrogant elitism.
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to control their own image, so they don't need to control the campaign. If patrons are happy, they'll do the advertising for them.
This. "Word-of-mouth" is the best single way to advertise your product. Depending on your consumer base and any politics around your brand, a twitter campaign should be fine. You can't control it, but if you're a good company and you aren't dealing with a lot of jerks, it will also be a positive one.
Woodstock stove company, for example, is a very reputable company that makes soapstone and cast iron stoves. They would probably do well on twitter, even though they might get some flame wars from people who
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even though they might get some flame wars from people who are really into other brands of stoves.
Loool those would be awesome flame wars
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Woah woah woah! It sounds like you might be new to the world of corporate management. A few MBA courses should set you right.
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mcd customers don't need to advertise mcd or don't want to. the mcd is already there, everybody knows it.. what's there to advertise, if there isn't some price special going on?
but you know what's funny about mcd? the vocal complainers about the quality, horror stories and what have you.. they don't eat at mcd, have no idea where the food in mcd comes from either, they only know that it's a multinational fast food franchise and so it must be bad.
and generally, don't have a fucking clue about anything really
#McDStories (Score:4, Insightful)
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They're called trolls. And we should all be well aware of them, we've all probably been them at some point or another.
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A more extreme one was the NYPD campaign for people to tweet nice things about the police. No idea who thought that wouldn't end up going badly for them.
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McDonalds didn't learn from #McDStories either, they did the exact same thing with #CheersToSochi, which led to the exact same result (only being taken over by people asking why McDonalds was supporting Putin's government).
The moral of the story - "social media experts" are often total morons.
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If the distinguished lady from Oregon wanted realistic feedback then she should have simply asked fo
Related ... (Score:5, Funny)
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already done and going on for a while now at #SlashdotBetaSucks
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@#/.! (Ampersant Octotorp slash dot exclamationmark, or is that not part of it?)
Get it right, ! is a bang!
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Does it ever work? (Score:3)
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No publicity is bad publicity (Score:2)
Does it ever work?
Let's find examples of it working, and let that encourage more companies to engage over twitter. Because the common thread here is these are all companies that deserve criticism.
I would submit that whatever gets people talking about the company or brand or candidate is all good, whether it's positive or negative.
No one reads through all the actual buzz. They just see "instances of #hashtag is TRENDING!"
What's more, the group's Facebook page is almost guaranteed to be a honeypot for all of the trolls against it. And if they're all happily trolling away at the group's Facebook or Twitter page, then they're likely sitting back smug thinking they've made a "difference" by airing thei
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Maybe this is just my perspective as an outsider.. (Score:5, Insightful)
but why the hell would anyone use Twitter? What's your reasonable best case scenario? You could get a book deal maybe. On the other hand, you're playing Russian Roulette with everything you post. Say something the internet finds offensive at that time and they'll burn you to the ground.
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Publicity.
Try posting something on your web site, if you're not one of the biggest or most-watched companies in your industry, and see what reaction you'll get.
Re:Maybe this is just my perspective as an outside (Score:4, Insightful)
Well gamergate uses it as one of the main pushbacks against moral authoritarians and prudes. The "social justice" crowd loves social media, so there needs to be some people who are willing to push back against those who are out to try and cause actual harm.
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Really? Let's look at their latest moral outrage over a 30 year old limerick that's been used up to this day. Now let's look at the pushback by people against the sjw mindset and narritive. Their narrative is, it's "transphobic" it's not, it actually caused murders(it didn't). If you're unwilling to protect your culture, then don't whine when someone turns around and tries to make it into something you wouldn't recognize. The rest of us however, have no desire to see an already and accepting culture tu
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Actually GamerGate is a perfect example of what the GP is talking about. Aside from the people who committed actual crimes in support of GG, some number of people got sucked in to the rubbish about ethics in journalism and #NotYourSheild. If they tied their accounts to their real identities somehow when people google them they are going to see that they fell for that scam or worse actually condoned what was happening with full knowledge.
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I've asked dozens of times for said evidence of people who are pro-GG who've "committed crimes" I have yet to see it. I can however find easily plenty of vocal aGGro's who are active to this day who've actually broken laws, including anti-swatting laws. What I find funny is the comment is the second sentence, you've just come out saying that people can't make their own decisions. You realize how bigoted that is right?
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Putting social justice in quotes is appropriate. It is a movement that is called a specific thing which many people have reasonable belief to be not the actual intended purpose. Saying "Social Justice" is akin to saying "Clean Coal". There is no such thing, but it is a designation that is well known.
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Putting social justice in scare quotes while blathering about moral authoritarians is amusing enough, but to do it while equivocating about your side's wilful invasion community spaces for the purposes of moral crusade? Classy.
Except it's accurate. You miss the attack against lionhead studios and their support for national cleavage day? Or how about their attacks against various types of dress? Of course, when they use exactly the same thing it's not 'sexist' anymore. Then again, we didn't start the invasion now did we. They did, when they decided they wanted to turn everything into a political pissing match and people said "enough."
Then again aGGro's are so small in number that they can't even trend a hashtag. There goes t
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You're never going to defeat the armies of the basement-dwellers on their own turf. Pick another battlefield.
That's pretty funny. They also said gamergate would be dead in a week, this is month 7. How many grassroots campaigns last this long, while shrugging off the left-leaning media goes after them using fake claims of harassment.
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left-leaning media goes after them using fake claims of harassment.
Are you claiming Zoe Quinn was not harassed?
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Are you claiming Zoe Quinn was not harassed?
Technically no. Neither was she doxed(she released the information herself), or had her nudes released(she did porn, and it's still available on their website). She also left the country on a per-arranged trip and tried to dish it up as a "this is what harassment has done to me..." type of crap. She did however, go after and harass wizardchan not once but at least twice. Tel me, how petty and low do you have to be to go after a bunch of overweight virgins who want to be left alone?
Once you get outside o
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This is the first time I've heard of it in nearly two months. Even Slashdot and Cracked stopped posting stories about it weekly some time ago.
Cracked just finished namedropping gamergate a week ago, and the washington post did something similar a few days ago. It's still in the news, which should tell you something.
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The one reason I ever bother using Twitter is to communicate with companies with whom I have a problem. If I get bad service I write about it on Twitter. Having to do customer support in public usually encourages a faster, better response in my experience.
So far British Airways is the only one that has not responded well to tweets, although they did at least respond.
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I've found it also good for real time updates. For example during recent snow storms, following the city and department of transport Twitter gives some insight into the status of the city. And they use it for two-way communication as well.
Other situations I've used it is twice watching parades when there was a huge gap in the middle. Jump on twitter and there's reports of why the parade stopped (medical emergency).
I've also used it when following a manhunt that had a city on lockdown. Closest to second by s
Getting involved with Twitter (Score:2)
For most companies, is just performing the experiment of how well individual rights hold up against outraged mobs in our society. (sadly they don't hold up particularly well, just ask this guy http://www.theverge.com/2014/1... [theverge.com] )
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First, check your links. That's a 404.
Second, while libertarians froth at the mouth over individual rights, they fail to mention how the "individual right" most often defended is the one that puts CEOs in corner offices making 350 times what their workers make. The only "individual right" they really care about is the right to exploit others for personal gain.
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When I posted the link it was good
https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]
Anyway here you go.
I am not a libertarian, but I know more than enough about their cause and people who are libertarians, to understand your comment just marks you as an ignorant bigot.
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I know that libertarians talk a good game, but what they really want is to be able to make decisions for themselves regardless of the consequences to others. That social Darwinism is the key to salvation, That the invisible hand of the free market will solve all the world's ills.
They're either hopelessly naive or they've got an agenda to push, and that agenda is most likely empowering businesses to do whatever the fuck they want so long as they make money.
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I know that libertarians talk a good game,
In your case, it's pretty clear it's not what you don't know, but what you do know that's just wrong.
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Educate me, then. And try to keep Rand out of it.
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Educate me, then. And try to keep Rand out of it.
Not my job, but just to point you in the right direction, Ayn Rand had no love for libertarians http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexi... [aynrandlexicon.com]
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They can all jump into a volcano, as far as I'm concerned.
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You really need to stop being the problem.
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Oh, so now since I don't believe in libertarianism/objectivism/whatever, I'm part of the problem? Don't tell me what to think.
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You, think ?
Maybe they'll all finally learn (Score:2)
Maybe they'll all finally learn from SeaWorld and give this one horrible PR trick up for good.
I hope not. It'd make twitter a lot more boring.
Bad Idea When (Score:2)
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It is only a bad idea when the vast majority of people hate your business practices.
The vast majority doesn't care. It's a problem when you have an angry minority that has too much time on its hands.
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"Yes." History is littered with humans that cares more about money than fellow human beings. And you think human is somehow going to act any different because it is dealing with another non-human creature?
Bashtags == Nefarious remote Shebang lines? (Score:2)
Anyone else think something along the lines of a hashtag being used to remote exploit SeaWorlds network by using Shebang lines in twitter?
I dunno. Too much internets today.
#ASKNEAL (Score:2)
twitter = monkey cage (Score:1)
On the other hand, it might be that PR people realize that by inviting attack on Twitter Seaworld can say they addresed their critics openly while basically mooning the monkey cage for all the difference the hoots and cries generated on Twitter matter in the real world. Who goes to Twitter to find out anything important about SeaWorld? I saw their advertising, had a free day in San Diego and decided to go see the whales and dolphins. There's lot of other cool stuff there, too.
As for the abuse claims, I s
Bill Cosby (Score:1)
Someone should ask Bill Cosby if he liked the outcome of his "Make me a Meme" social media project.
Free Captive Orcas from SeaWorld's Exploitation: (Score:1)
PR Disasters (Score:3)
The McLibel case [wikipedia.org] shows the sort of PR Disaster that often results from trying to manage negative PR.