Planned Content For The FAIL
Q Pick an instance of a corporate social media fail (ie. dropping the ball with customer service, poorly timed message, incorrect information, meltdowns, etc.) Explain how canned or planned content contributed to the moment.
Ahh the Miracle Mattresses Twin Towers commercial… cringe worthy. If you have not already seen the advertisement, this last fall Miracle Mattresses, a Texas mattress store, released a commercial advertising their products. Their creative approach? Using the 9/11 anniversary as content for their sale. I don’t know about you, but I would have avoided this idea all together as soon as someone said 9/11. Nevertheless, the public was given this golden social media fail, and it is evident that planned content can work against a company just as poorly as canned content.
The outcome of the commercial having a very negative response is due to the emotion behind 9/11. This event in no way was a positive or happy event. It was a very real and scary event in which civilians lost their lives and loved ones and impacted history in a very great way. Thus, even from a very short analysis of 9/11, it should be clear to anyone that this event may not be the best in attracting customers in a positive manner.
Further, it is clear that this commercial is very specific in relaying their sale to the 9/11 anniversary through its context and crafting. All dialogue (and poor jokes) were regarding the event, and the final act of the two men falling like the twin towers is a visual that was clearly planned to re-enact 9/11.
I really wish that someone had told Miracle Mattress that being personal with consumers through having them relive a horrible day in history is maybe a bad idea??!? This fail is truly a fail on so many levels because consumers not only have to watch a company mock an unfortunate anniversary, but consumers are also aware that people thought this content was relevant in a good way, and that this whole commercial was produced and aired with no one questioning how this content will affect consumers.
It is very possible that this commercial was created to gain a public presence, as is often the case. However, I believe that here the damage was too great for them to turn this fail into a win. During the 9/11 anniversary, the store completely closed down as an apology for their actions, thus achieving the exact opposite of attempting to cash in on the event. It is interesting to see if the company will close permanently in the future, ad their Facebook page is now a mockery of their fail, evident by their 1 star rating and constant negative comments by customers.
