The social media crisis of Goya Foods brand after #BoycottGoya movement
As a company, you don’t want your brand to be associated with “boycott” or “cancel” trending keywords on social media. That’s what happened with Goya Foods, when their CEO applauded President Donald Trump at a presidential event in early July 2020.
After Robert Unanue, CEO of Goya, gave his speech at the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative praising Trump, social media platforms like Twitter were full of hashtags like #BoycottGoya and #Goyaway on the trending tab.
Even celebrities and public figures such as former Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro and “Hamilton” creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda posted tweets against Goya.
Here’s how an efficient social media ethics guide would be helpful for Goya, should this scandal ease up in the future.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Goya is primarily consumed in Hispanic households, as it’s the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States and in Latin America. According to the company’s history, Goya’s headquarters are based in New Jersey but boasts 26 facilities throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Spain.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump spearheaded his campaign in 2016 with strong rhetoric against the Hispanic communities in the United States, like his “build the wall over Mexico” chants overheard in his rallies, executive orders against sanctuary cities, and rapid deportation of Hispanic immigrants.
The boycotts against Goya were a result of Hispanics living in the United States feeling betrayed and hurt by the brand aligning itself to the Trump administration.
According to an NBC News article, the majority of Latinx people boycotting Goya were loyal to the brand and are primarily boycotting “the president’s bigotry” rather than punishing Goya itself.
By knowing your audience, Goya should’ve taken time to research on how the brand would’ve been perceived after the initial White House event was over.
STAY AWAY FROM BIASES
Goya inserted their brand image to match with controversy by attaching itself to the Trump administration.
As discussed in our class lecture, brands should stay away from religious and political affiliations. If Goya wanted to show support, they could’ve planned a responsible and respectful standpoint as to why they agreed to participate during that White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as Unanue didn’t tone down his support of Trump, but doubled down on it in a Fox News interview the next day, according to the Washington Post. Meanwhile, both Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, made endorsement tweets supporting Goya and responding against the #BoycottGoya and #Goyaway hashtags.
IMAGINE THE IMPACT
It’s been a month since the Goya backlash and the White House event, but the impact is still fresh for a majority of Hispanic consumers.
Recently, Chrissy Teigen was called out on Twitter after her Instagram story featured Goya products, even though she took part in the boycott and is known on social media for being a vocal critic of Trump.
Also, as a result of the boycotts, viral posts and other articles have emerged for duplicate Goya recipes anyone can make at home or alternative Hispanic-owned food brands available for purchase at the grocery stores or online.
CONCLUSION
Now that Goya is aware of how quickly you can lose emotional and financial trust with your target consumers, they have to work twice as hard in regaining brand loyalty within Latinx households.
As of publication time, Goya’s marketing and communications have paused all outbound messages on social media with their last posts promoting Goya’s charity work on July 13 — several days after the controversy happened on July 10, 2020.
