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Twitter Moms Create a Motrin-Sized Headache for J&J
Posted Nov 17, 2008 06:27pm EST by Sarah Lacy in Healthcare Information, Internet, Media, Tales of the Valley
Hell hath no fury like an angry, baby-carrying mom armed with a blog, YouTube, and Twitter accounts.
Yesterday, Johnson & Johnson posted a Motrin ad on its Web site and on YouTube all about alleviating the pain of “baby wearing,” or toting around your baby in a sling. It was part of a broader ad campaign about the different pains Motrin can alleviate. In particular with this ad, JNJ tried to use humor to unite moms in some Oprah-like virtual high-five over the rigors of carrying around babies.
The controversial ad
Motrin united moms alright—only they united against J&J. What began over the weekend is continuing today as thousands of Tweets (as individual microblogging posts are called) are still flying about the scandal. Many moms said they felt patronized, disrespected and insulted with language that implied carrying a baby was a fashion accessory. “Supposedly it’s a real bonding experience,” and referring to carrying babies in slings as “these things.” (You can see the ad here)
What’s at the heart of this controversy? Authenticity on the web. The stakes are high in the realm of social media. The right ad—like Obama’s “Yes We Can” —can hit the right populist chord, and outperform even the most glitzy, expensive media buy. But a wrong ad can become not just an embarrassment but make your brand the object of an angry digital mob.
Motrin pulls the ad
Of course, if Motrin was hoping for a viral campaign, they got it. The outrage in the Twitter-verse guaranteed that far more moms saw the ad than those who would have visited the Motrin site. But judging by Motrin’s swift reaction, that wasn’t the intent.
The company apologized, removed the ads, which were also to be featured in magazines, and said on its site, “We are parents ourselves and we take feedback from moms very seriously.”
Lessons in social media
The lesson? If you’re going to produce an edgy ad that speaks for moms—or any group—in today’s fast-moving age of hot-headed Tweets and YouTube uploads, make sure it actually speaks for them. Given the swift megaphone bloggers have, it wouldn’t hurt to send a few of them the ad first and solicit feedback. That way, if a controversy does boil over, advertisers can be sure some thought leaders have their back. A marketer’s best bet is to get influencers on their side from the get-go and then brace for the best or worst in an effort to move swiftly to capitalize -- or quickly do damage control.
22 Comments
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday November 17, 2008 07:06PM EST
Disrespect is NOT a verb! You can be disrespectful, or show disrespect, but you can't "disrespect" someone. No such structure. Why do people '"Bastardize" the English language?
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday November 17, 2008 08:05PM EST
NEVER underestimate the sensitivity of a mother, especially one fueled by a postpartum hormone storm. The pity is so many women cling to it like an earned right.
Lemme Guess - Monday November 17, 2008 09:45PM EST
I think that ad's pretty funny. Thanks to the PC Police, no one has a sense of humor about anything anymore.
Kevin W - Monday November 17, 2008 11:16PM EST
J & J is already enjoying whatever attention this has generated. People have kids for a reason. I just never could figure out what that reason is...
Linda - Monday November 17, 2008 11:22PM EST
My My ...do you 6 commentators still have a problem with your feminist "mom's" (in name only)? Perhaps you are still "nursing" those wounds you received from being abandoned to a communist work camp, called "day care".
Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday November 18, 2008 12:08AM EST
All good points.. PC has gone too far.. ego driven drivel.. Lighten up America. And then get serious. about serious matters..
Rhonda Hunt - Tuesday November 18, 2008 12:42AM EST
It has been too many years since I had a baby small enough to wear around in a sling, but I'll tell you one thing, the add does come across as a bit condescending...and tacky. PC aside, it looks very unprofessional and amateurish. If I were them, I'd fire whoever came up with that bright idea and move on to something better.
__A_YAHOO_USER__ - Tuesday November 18, 2008 02:19AM EST
Not yet time ,the points is,, it is in the wrong place and time,,,,,,mistakes........
TIFFANY A L - Tuesday November 18, 2008 04:01AM EST
Yahoo! Finance User hit the nail on the head! Baby strapped moms, especially single moms are often; nay more often than not, bitchy flibbertigibbets. Single moms---my least favorite group.
sportsmadness - Tuesday November 18, 2008 08:27AM EST
Obviously people with too much time on their hands.
Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday November 18, 2008 08:39AM EST
The VOICE could have been different...that itself would have changed the whole tone.... If they just played the video...try it...without the sound....that ALONE makes it a LITTLE better...although, if you have already seen/heard the commercial, it already has kind of tainted your view of it. But....it could be worse....I mean, there is a commercial of someone GLUING the AMERICAN FLAG that keeps playing on TV...and no one seems to complain about that!!
- Tuesday November 18, 2008 09:47AM EST
Who are the idiots buying today...more bad news is to come.
Jack Lambert - Tuesday November 18, 2008 09:53AM EST
I liked the commercial, other than the part about her crying more than other women, but then again I'm a guy so my opinion doesn't count.
danny - Tuesday November 18, 2008 09:56AM EST
TODAY I DECLARE PC DEAD. THE RE-BIRTH OF COMMON SENSE IS HERE.
scottk - Tuesday November 18, 2008 10:02AM EST
"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government." Thomas Jefferson
Crystal - Tuesday November 18, 2008 10:06AM EST
People are upset over that?? I thought it was cute, and I am a mother of a 5 year old who used to use those carriers all the time when he was younger. People these days are over sensitive and need to get over themselves.
DKD - Tuesday November 18, 2008 10:12AM EST
I think these mom's really need something better to do with their lives......there are so many better causes to get riled up over.
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Thomas M - Monday November 17, 2008 06:59PM EST
Geeze! Mommies, get over it, already!! with all the late thirty-early forty, clock ticking, former executive mommies out there, you'd think they could have become a little more tolerant. It is a cute add. oops' sorry, was I patronizing by saying 'cute'?