Website promises to help bush fire victims – but only if enough if it gets enough Facebook likes
An Australian online shopping site has apologised for using the bush fire crisis to try to build the number of followers for its Facebook page.
Gold Coast-based Sellitonline.com.au promised to donate generators to help those in Tasmania without power – if there were enough likes for its page.
It posted a message saying: “What we need you do do is get everyone of your friends to join sellitonline Facebook page and the more people we get will determine how many generators we donate.”
Wow. That kind of social media fail is so 2009 it’s almost retro.
A spokesman for Sellitonline told Mumbrella: “We are, like, sorry if people thought we were being opportunistic, cause, we totally don’t think we were. And, like, it’s not like we aren’t going to donate to the poor people who live in Tasmania”
@sellitonline
Subscribe to Condescending Corporate Brand Page on Facebook and take the time to scroll through the many hundreds of other examples like yours on their page.
You made a mistake, you will need to learn from it.
Oh, and do not give your facebook reins to somebody who has never been client facing before. Whoever posted that for you will either learn and “get it”. Or is unable to learn and should not run your social media.
That is my ten cents.
p.s. don’t be greedy!!!!!
“What we need you do do is get everyone of your friends to join sellitonline Facebook page and the more people we get will determine how many generators we donate.”
Wow. It can’t be easy to maintain that mentality, or complete lack of empathy.
Or, judging by the “we apologise if anyone was offended [*rolleyes* *snort*]” follow-up, maybe it IS.
If you want to see a Facebook page that is actually HELPING with the relief effort head to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tassie-Fires-We-Can-Help/265695153558391?ref=stream.
This page is being administered by a one woman powerhouse. I’m not sure how she is managing to get sleep but she is doing an amazing job.
A little off topic I know, but credit where credit is due.
OMG you just have to read all their other posts to see just how this page operates….
the idiots
p.s. @Mumbrella enough enough enough enough RE: your title. 😉
Telstra did this after the Black Saturday bushfires, they were just more subtle about it. For every new signup (to a 24 month plan), they pledged $30 to the rural fire service.
The ad featured two fireys in bright yellow uniform, drinking from water bottles on charred earth. This was at the time of the YouTube clip of the shell shocked koala who was given water from a (similar) bottle after the fires.
While not as blunt as sellitonline’s approach, it nevertheless fed on the same disaster & suffering.
An early entry for the stupidest marketing act of 2013