When Good Twitter Campaigns Go Bad. Just Ask Mega Brand McDonald’s.

By: Cynti Oshin

Director Client Services/Business Development

We have spoken ad infinitum about both the positives and negatives of using social media to promote one’s brand. We do it. We have our own Facebook page, Twitter account, this blog and more to help spread the Stanton& Everybody word. We work hard to make sure we are using these tools effectively, while counseling our clients to do the same.

Tragically, McDonald’s experienced up close and personal, how very awry a social media strategy can go. And it went like this.

“McDonald’s latest marketing campaign was supposed to deliver social media praise via the hashtag#McDStories. Instead, in a classic example of the risks of Twitter-based advertising, tweeters with a much snarkier intent commandeered the effort.

The campaign started outas a wholesome, feel-good exercise. There were two hashtags, #McDStories and#meetthe farmers, that launched Thursday and were intended to highlight the fast-food giant's commitment to fresh produce and meats.

Initially, tweets came in warm and fuzzy, like this one from McDonald's itself: “When u make something w/pride, people can taste it,” – McD potato supplier #McDStories.”

But then more Twitter users got wind of the campaign and began offering their own, usually backhanded interpretations.

To wit: “I only eat McDonald's when I am ill because it makes me feel sick anyway. #McDStories,”tweeted Parker Stafford through the knightps handle. "

Ouch. In fact it became so snarky that within two hours, McDonald’s pulled the plug on the marketing campaign. The management was quoted as saying "the effort did not go as planned.”

The good news is, as quickly as it was started, it was ended. And it has provided McDonald’s with perhaps an unintended benefit: any publicity is good publicity. For example, here we are…talking about McDonald’s. Anyone hungry for French Fries?

Source: Mashable