Poor Motrin. They dip their toes into the pool of Social Media and truly end up sticking their foot in it. Now other large companies will surely point to their failure as an “I told you so” tale and shy even further away from the use of Social Media in their marketing and messaging. Exactly what we advocates for SM don’t want to see. But was it really Social Media’s fault?
Motrin devised a little YouTube ad campaign. It was in recognition of National Baby Wearing Week. The video was to be a sneak peek of a larger traditional media campaign now launching – a media campaign Motrin is already apologizing for. If you watch the video (if the link works, it is still up) you will see an animated road map of how and why moms “wear” their babies and that any ensuing pain from this practice can be alleviated with Motrin. Sounds fine, so why the fervor? It’s in the way the message was pitched. The ad told Alpha Moms they wear their babies as a fashion statement for reasons that may, someday, be considered legitimate. The ad basically says these moms are only suffering through baby wearing so they can “look like an official Mom” in the eyes of society. That message is so wrong on so many levels for the audience Motrin was reaching out to, that you’ve got to wonder if they did any research at all.
Alpha Moms are educated women who take pride in caring for their families. They are savvy enough to poke fun at themselves, and don’t need companies to do it for them. Motrin could have garnered the favor of this economically powerful group by aiming at their hearts rather than by pricking their egos. How’s this for a story line: “You thought the pain would be over after childbirth? How could it be when you’re still carrying that baby? But you carry her because you love her. Let Motrin help ease the aches.”
Unfortunately, the viral backlash Motrin is now suffering gives them every reason to pull out of future Social Media usage and that is a shame, because that is the wrong lesson to learn from this episode. Why? Just look. Everyone is talking, tweeting, blogging and podcasting about Motrin. There is a definite buzz so, from a Social Media view, the campaign has worked very well. It is Motrin’s message that was bad. It’s Motrin’s message that has caused controversy, not the way that message was delivered. Regardless of how companies reach out, they still need to know their audience, and Motrin didn’t.
