Those who follow Twitter may have noticed a hashtag making its appearance over and over and over again this weekend: #motrinmoms. Used by mommy bloggers and even moms who can't be considered mommy bloggers, the hashtag was used on Tweets referring to a television spot that could be watched on the Motrin site (which is currently down at the time of writing). The advertisement, ostensibly meant to appeal to mothers of small children, suggests that mothers who "wear" their babies in slings, carriers, and backpacks, are prone to aches and pains that would require Motrin.
What got mothers up in arms was the tone of the ad; it insinuated that wearing your baby or toddler caused excessive pain. It also mocked the choice, with the "mother" voiceover suggesting that those who wear their children do so to "look like a real mom." The advertisement has gone viral, inspiring blog posts, letters to Johnson & Johnson (Motrin's parent company), Twitter posts, Facebook activity, and responses via YouTube. Even dads are weighing in, including blogger Louis Gray, who posted a picture of himself wearing one of his twin babies.
Dave Knox, Brand Manager at Proctor & Gamble, notes that Motrin has failed in two respects. The uproar that the ad has caused (with many calling for a boycott) is one problem, but the second problem is the company's lack of attention to social media. A company monitoring its brand image online would have spotted the groundswell quickly, and initiated a response quickly. Instead, the momentum has built over the weekend, and Motrin has a PR disaster on its hands. As Knox says:
"This PR disaster is happening underneath their nose and no one on the brand is responding. Not their advertising agency, not their Public Relations group and not the brand itself. The unfortunate fact is that company’s haven’t trained Brand Managers to respond quickly to situations like this. That needs to change….and it needs to change fast."
Whether companies embrace social media for marketing is still up for debate, but Motrin is learning the hard way that whether a company chooses to use social media for promoting its brand presence or not, customers will use it to discuss your brand. The last thing any company wants is all that discussion to be this negative.
Full disclosure: I have four kids. I wouldn't have survived without my various carriers. And no, they don't cause back pain when used correctly.
Comments
I had one baby who wanted to be carried all the time and one who didn't.
It's not about babywearing, it's about picking on women during the most vulnerable time in their lives.
www.JessicaGottlieb.com
This has nothing to do with viral advertising. The term "viral" is continuously misused. Yes, the thing did "go viral" but that's very different from viral advertising. Viral is a result. Not a strategy.
This is more a commentary on the tools we now have at our disposal to quickly react to, comment on pass on items we deem important. In a sense, that is viral. But it's not viral advertising.
I know. It's semantics. I'll just shut up now.
Steve, this has everything to do with viral advertising. You can't make something go viral; it just happens, and it's the end result that most ad execs lust for. Motrin's ad did go viral, but not in the way any company would hope for.
Lot's are very valuable points, but I like your full disclosure statement most. "they don't cause back pain when used correctly." As a health care provider for many real moms, that's been my experience.
#motrinmoms ~ 1st Tweets ~ timeline & chart http://tweetip.us/lkmhe
Please Jessica,
besides the fact that you thought in necessary to spam your blog link in the comment thread, no one is picking on you. You're suffering a severe case of victim syndrome: no one is picking on you, and by god there are a million more important things in the world than a tongue in cheek viral video.
Cyndy, you should know better than to fall for this. A couple of crazies don't make a majority of people. Maybe some of it was a little to far, and I respect that some people didn't like it, but I don't respect the amount of time they've put into it now. Rhe whole things WAS tongue in cheek, and just because OMG you managed to not hurt your back with one of these things, doesn't mean that others didn't. I did, my wife did, and I bet I could ring my friends and find most of them did as well. Carrying a child in a sling HURTS YOUR BACK.
I'm betting that Mortin sales SOAR after this, not the other way around. No PR disaster here, move along.
At least one good thing comes out of this furor:
Out: Soccer Moms
In: Blogger Moms
If I see an Oprah episode on this I'm trading in my TV...
Duncan, then I'd argue you were doing it wrong. ;)
My husband, who spends most of his online time on football and politics, had no idea any of this was going on. The second I described the ad, his response was "WHY would Motrin want to touch that? Last thing you want to do is irritate the mommy bloggers because they will respond like a pack of rabid dogs."
While I think that's a bit harsh, that's the point that is being missed. The mommy bloggers may not be a huge contingent, but they have a very large and very devoted reader base. Those readers got an eyeful over the weekend, that will continue today when some start reading at work, about how awful Motrin was. While the ad may not be as offensive as some believe it to be, the spread of the negative PR can't be denied. In addition to the adult Motrin, a lot of moms rely on Infant and Children's Motrin for their kids. Small percentage or not, it's still getting a good amount of online attention in a group known for solidarity. That's not the type of PR a company is looking for.
Yes you can say P&G has a problem caring or listening to people. A long time ago I wrote to them about using lava chips as they did for auto mechanics Lava soap on bathing soap bars. They told me basically, get lost we don't need your bright ideas. They sent me an agreement that basically said, don't even bother sending us your ideas because we are P&G and you are not!
Recently their stock tanked and now this... P&G ought to take a page from Microsoft and now President Obama and learn to listen before giving advice nobody asked you for.
RHA
There are a lot of more important things to be getting mad about in this world. You could start with parents who spend more time blogging and worrying about advertising than looking after their newborns.
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