From Weird to Worried

A necessary tonal shift in branded social during a global pandemic.

It seems it was only yesterday that beloved fast food chains were tweeting that their burgers were “thicc,” sparking conversation centered around their content, to line up and dunk on them or posit whether or not the chain eats ass.

It wasn’t yesterday, but a mere nine days ago. Did something interesting occur on March 11th? Oh right, COVID-19 officially became a pandemic. And the brand posting came to a screeching halt. Temporarily.

What happens when social media makes a massive shift to maudlin, across the entire spectrum, when you’ve been cultivating a persona that only fits within its previous incarnation? An incarnation that was thematically the diametric opposite of what it is now?

The brands must adjust. Though we know what you get when you steer a large ship. It’s glacial business. Internally at least. But the average user sees any use of social media the way they use it themselves — it is nimble, fast, and direct.