Mortein: To post or not to post?
Mortein was this week forced to apologise and pull a Facebook post which showed its mascot, Louie the fly, voicing his sympathy for murdered schoolteacher Stephanie Scott. Isobar’s Tom Kearney looks at where the social media team went wrong.
To post or not to post?
That was the question raised on Sunday when bug spray brand Mortein decided to create a Facebook post relating to the murder of schoolteacher Stephanie Scott.
So, how does a brand judge whether it’s appropriate or not to comment on a sensitive topic on social media? Are there rules that govern posts for everyone, brands and individuals alike?
Does it boil down to understanding your place?
#putyourdressout came alive on Saturday, the day that Stephanie Scott was to walk down the aisle. Brides around the country photographed and posted their wedding dresses over the weekend in an act of solidarity that only women, as I saw it, could genuinely participate in. After all, only women could know how Stephanie Scott, a bride-to-be, would have been feeling.
Only women who have experienced their wedding days could truly feel the sentiment of #putyourdressout.
I, like many other social media users, was merely an observer, watching women around the country unite, spurred by an awful event that highlighted once again the issue of women’s safety in Australia. And while we could all appreciate #putyourdressout, this was really a grassroots campaign created by women, for women. And above all, for Stephanie Scott.
Only that’s kinda not how Mortein saw it, or so it seemed. Out of nowhere, Louie the Fly — a smoking, coughing brand character — was suddenly doing the same thing.
A ‘tasteless decision by the social maketing team’, was how I summarised the post on Mortein’s Facebook page. So what made it ‘tasteless’ in my opinion?
I guess it requires dissecting the post a little.
Louie the Fly is a fly. A fly who obviously isn’t real; who obviously isn’t female. He’s a fictitious character for a brand that manufactures poison to kill insects.
Quite a leap from the women displaying their grief for a young woman who had her life taken from her.
Louie the Fly was, quite simply, trespassing in a space he hadn’t been invited into.
But it wasn’t just that. Something felt intrinsically wrong about Mortein making a social comment relating to Stephanie Scott. But why?
Having worked as a creative in the industry for a while now, I understand the desire to be creative, topical and leverage an online trend first.
When the blue/black/gold/white dress materialised on social media earlier this year, agile brands that were responsive and clever enough were the first to hijack the viral trend.
By association, their own wares earned instant relevance through quick-witted social posts designed to put them top-of-mind. A few brands nailed it – quite a few just came across as desperate once two, three, four days had passed while still insisting on jumping on the bandwagon.
Let’s not forget what a brand’s reason for posting to social media is really about: likes, shares and engagement. And ultimately the point is about connecting with existing followers and attracting new ones.
Mortein’s post was no exception. It was posted for likes, shares and engagement.
And it was successful. That, I found, was one of the weirdly disturbing aspects to the post. Mortein’s followers liked and shared it with barely a whimper about its relevance or appropriateness.
There are some brands that could have participated in #putyourdressout without seeming to cross the line.
A bridal designer, for example, probably could have – someone who makes beautiful gowns for women for their wedding days.
Perhaps women’s fashion magazines could have posted something on their social media accounts too. But not a bug spray brand.
#putyourdressout, a social campaign entrenched with the empathy of women across Australia, should not have been intruded upon by a fictitious fly that cannot feel anything.
It’s one thing to identify a marketing opportunity for your brand to join in with an online social campaign.
Understanding whether your brand has any right to, is another. Especially when it comes to sensitive topical subjects.
Social marketers should always step back and critically ask, ‘Is my brand entitled to an opinion on this? Am I relevant in this conversation?’ and be honest with their answers.
That’s where Louie the Fly made his biggest mistake.
- Tom Kearney is a Senior Art Director at Isobar
There’s some real brand hate against mortein here. Maybe look to provide a better analysis of multiple campaigns as opposed to focusing your analysis on just one brand. I think their social media campaign #putypurdressout is a perfect opportunity to align themselves closer with their target audience. They present a great creative that lets the everyday house mother know that they also care for women’s safety.
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Yeah but Chris no other brands did posts about such a sensitive issue.
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Hhmmm nah Chris. By condoning this shallow, ill conceived and cynical attempt at brand relevance you only illuminate one thing in this ongoing narrative: the fact that you’ve sold out your heart. Step outside your mock professionalism and see if you can reconnect with what real mate. Brands have ZERO place in this tragedy.
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Hi Chris,
Appreciate your feedback – but I have to disagree. There was no need to analyse another brand in this instance, as other brands steered well clear of this ‘perfect opportunity to align themselves closer with their target audience’.
Other brands understood that this in fact was NOT a ‘perfect opportunity to align themselves with their target audience’.
I stand by my article, and I quote:
“It’s one thing to identify a marketing opportunity for your brand to join in with an online social campaign. Understanding whether your brand has any right to, is another. Especially when it comes to sensitive topical subjects.”
I certainly don’t bear any grudges or ‘hate’ against Mortein. I, like most Australians, have a can tucked under the kitchen sink as we speak. But, I do feel they made a very poor choice in this instance.
Regards,
Tom
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Nice one Tom. Like.
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It’s pretty simple: not everything in life can have a dollar sign stuck onto it. There is more, much more, to life than the bottom line, and I feel a blend of disgust and genuine pity for those who fail to recognise this: what a wretched waste of a short time on this planet.
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Never mind the fact that Chris automagically assumes that all people who buy Mortein are “house mothers”. Come on, mate — can we be a bit more 2015 about the way we view women, and mortein buyers?
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Great reflection on a divisive topic Tom. I understand the person behind this may have had the best intentions, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the brand, product or service is, if the end result is to attract new followers and engage with current followers/buyers, then it is a marketing exercise and has no place here and is simply capitalising on a tragedy or the suffering of others.
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A product that kills things, hopping on the back of a murder. You can’t make it up really
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I don’t think any brand should be involved Tom, personally. I agree Mortein have no place but I think I would genuinely hate a bridal designer if I thought they were trying to profit from such a horrific event. Thanks for outlining why you think Mortein was wrong to jump in. Couldn’t agree more.
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Bang on the money Dave, my thoughts too.
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I can believe this is even a discussion – a woman’s murder is not a marketing opportunity.
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I think this is a typical example of how people don’t think before they post and how a lack of sensitivity impacts on others. There’s a time and a place for a brand to be creative – this certainly wasn’t it.
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Crisp post Tom, thank you.
A murder isn’t an opportunity to flog fly spray.
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this sort of idiotic mistake is what happens when you leave marketers in charge of social media marketing. they have no PR/reputational sensibility, and this is the base requirement of not blowing yourself up in social. fo god’s sake put the savvy media relations people in charge- it’s their job to think of what other people will think of a corporate communication
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The question no one seems to be asking:
Who follows a bug spray company on Facebook away?
The 625 Likes and 95 Shares just astounds (and sickens) me.
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Nice post Tom. This sums it up perfectly:
‘Louie the Fly was, quite simply, trespassing in a space he hadn’t been invited into.’
If louie the fly were a person, there would have been no story here.
Given the unfiltered nature of social, there was always going to be conversation about this tragedy there.
All social, even posts by individuals are done to capture attention, reaction, interaction, start conversations etc. so clearly that was their intention.
No matter how big the brand, their social platforms are strategised and operated by people.
These people simply didn’t understand their brand didn’t belong in this conversation.
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