campaign

Which PR Campaign Hooked Us in 2014?

| Abbi Wilt

There are many companies that are stepping up their game when it comes to reputation management and public relations. That being said, it was the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that really rocked our internet feeds this year.

The challenge was a viral hit – individuals would dump buckets of ice/ice water on his/her heads, post a video to social media and tag three friends. The individual would then make a donation to the ALS Association. That’s all it took.

A record-breaking $115 million in donations was recorded for the society, many made by new donors who had not previously donated to ALS. The Ice Bucket Challenge also got celebrities involved – famous stars including One Direction, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Kate Upton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Henry Cavill, and many others also participated.

So why was this campaign so wildly successful? It was a viral movement that involved something somewhat extreme (dumping ice over your head) and making your friends do it, too. It didn’t take promotion from the ALS Association – the campaign drove itself. It cost practically nothing to the ALS Association, and gave us all a warm feeling about doing our part for the community.

It was big, it was for a good cause and it was selfless. The Challenge was covered in the news, and was a trend among youth and teens. Combined with the fact that you could laugh at your friends and replay a video unlimited times, the Challenge brought in 500% more donations than the ALS Association has seen the previous year.

Just like any good campaign, however, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge had a few critics. Some called out individuals who were posting videos but not actually donating. Others complained that the campaign encouraged us to waste water. Others were injured in the process of making their videos. However, the good significantly outweighed the bad.

Fundraisers like this are changing the way that companies do business. Following the lead of the Ice Bucket Challenge, other nonprofits tried the same model to prompte their causes. Most notably was the “Feelin’ Nuts” campaign trying to encourage men to check themselves for testicular cancer. The campaign showed photos and videos of celebrities grabbing their crotches in public, hashtagged #feelingnuts and uploaded their media to the Feelin’ Nuts official site. However, this did not take off as well as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Why was this similar campaign not as successful? For starters, it was only geared toward men. The ALS campaign included all participants, making it easy to share. Also, participants were not worried about sharing the hashtag “feelingnuts” so that their grandmothers on Facebook could see them. It excluded a large percentage of Internet users. It was clever, yes – but just having a clever slogan does not make a PR campaign.

ALS was fortunate to have the Internet on their side. With the help of humor and celebrities, the campaign raised a remarkable amount of money for the foundation. Sometimes, the best PR campaigns are the ones we don’t push – we let the consumers run with the idea.

Review: Comedian Starts Twitter Campaign Against Burger King

| Abbi Wilt

Note: These article reviews are being completed for my PR Campaigns class; however, I feel as though these PR articles are too interesting not to share. I hope you learn as much from them as I did! Links to the articles are provided below.

Allen, K. (2014, Oct. 14). Comedian starts Twitter campaign against Burger King. PR Daily. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2014 from http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/17436.aspx

Burger King recently released a new commercial featuring a yelling spokesperson, a handful of nuggets, and two “unsuspecting” teens on the street. This commercial followed very similarly to the comedic act of funnyman Billy Eichner, who hosts a Funny or Die segment entitled “Billy on the Street.” In his act, Eichner goes up to random people on the street, asks absurd questions, gives out money, and yells. This style of comedy is recognized by other comedians as Billy’s style – as became apparent after Burger King released the ad. The video can be viewed here: http://ow.ly/CTMjM

Shortly following the video’s release, Eichner slammed the company to his 250,000+ followers on Twitter, stating, “Hey @BurgerKing-thanks for stealing my act for ur new commercial!! Except its not as funny & everyone knows u stole it. GET YOUR OWN IDEAS.”

The following day, Eichner spoke again about the ad’s poor taste, tweeting, “As annoying as it is to have Burger King rip me off, your tweets are incredible. I have the BEST fans on the planet!!! See u at McDonalds!”

Capitalizing on the opportunity, McDonald’s was quick to respond to Eichner’s complaints. Shortly after the disgruntled comedian’s second tweet, the fast-food giant replied, “@billyeichner Can’t wait to see you! Oh, and bring Elena!” – referencing a well-known contestant of “Billy On The Street.”

Other comedians also got in on the Burger King slamming, chiding the corporation for stealing Eichner’s classic material and being unoriginal in their marketing tactics. Prominent celebrity comedian Seth Rogen tweeted to his 2.3 million followers the message, “Yo @BurgerKing, stop stealing from the hilarious @billyeichner and stick to what you’re good at: giving me diarrhea.”

Throughout this social media firestorm, Burger King did not address the new commercial, Eichner’s complaints or the consumer backlash from Eichner’s fans. The company has yet to respond to Eichner’s discontent.

There were a few major issues that jumped out at me in Allen’s article. First of all, Burger King should have been more tasteful in their marketing campaign. Although the ad is entertaining, it is clear to any fan of the Funny or Die network that the content is strangely similar to Eichner’s segment. The company could have utilized Eichner in the commercial himself; however, this is essentially his creative license of his style of work. Without explicit permission from the comedian, it should have been recognized that the ad would leave a bad taste in the mouth of many.

Secondly, Burger King did not respond to the accusations. In our communication classes, we are taught that responses from companies need to be quick, honest, and to-the-point. We are also taught to closely monitor every social media platform.

On social media, one post has the capacity to garner millions of impressions – something that we have witnessed time and time again as the downfall of company reputations. A older (but still relevant!) example of this can be seen with Kryptonite’s lock fiasco back in the early 2000s. When a cyclist posted a video of breaking a Kryptonite lock with a Bic pen on a blogging forum, the company stayed radio silent for five days, and took ten to announce a solution. By this point, millions of consumers vowed that they would no longer trust the brand and the debacle costed Kryptonite over $10 million dollars.

When a company chooses not to respond on social media, this becomes incredibly risky business. Consumers have the chance to skew the information, spread falsities and ruin years of community relations in a few clicks. Burger King would be wise to address this scenario before it spirals out of control further; Eichner’s celebrity friends, like Rogen, have large and powerful fan bases in terms of spending power. In addition to Rogen’s followers, McDonald’s – a huge competitor of Burger King – was quick to remind Eichner that he’s always welcome at their chain. If the competition is quicker to respond to the thread than the actual subject of the complaint, consumers will notice and form opinions.