Monday, November 17, 2008

LISTENING to the Customer: Motrin Moms React

We talked in the first class about how important it is for brands to LISTEN to their customers. Even if brands don't enter into Social Media promotion, they are wise to have a social media listening strategy. Motrin Moms is a controversy I noticed stirring up over this weekend. Check this out:

I just noticed there’s a growing uproar over on Twitter about this ad hosted on the Motrin homepage. (If the Motrin team is listening to social media at all, that link won’t work for long. I wonder how long the ad will actually live on its homepage?)

It seems this ad just appeared, and I just watched it — it’s a kind of frenetic, mostly text-based appeal to “moms who wear their kids” in slings, backpacks, and whatnot, to use Motrin to ease the back pain kid-carrying can cause.

Oddly, the narration seems to doubt the very wisdom of “wearing” your kid, and implies that women do it just to “look like a real mom.” Then it calls them crazy. Then it asks them to buy Motrin.

Interesting. Doesn’t seem to be going over well.

Check out the Twitter backlash here.

3-motrinmoms-twitter-search

4 comments:

Alex said...

A -M - A - Z - I - N - G !

Mrs. CAPTAIN said...

In You Tube there are alternative commercials and responses. You can check it out:
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=TpqpAGLS2t4

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=LhR-y1N6R8Q

Also interesting comments, what do you think about this one?
"Wow, all you people complaining that this is a horrible, insulting ad are taking yourselves way too seriously. As someone who carried my two babies in carriers quite a bit I say: Get a life. And yes, you are giving Motrin quite a bit of free publicity. Congratulations!"

Mrs. CAPTAIN said...

And also Motrin apologies:
http://www.motrin.com/

Catherine Rhodes said...

I still maintain they did it to provoke the reaction. There's no way they didn't know that ad would be offensive.