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Can a Tweet in a Time of Peril Get Any Better?

Posted on August 7, 2012 // 2 Comments
Campbell House Museum

Photo courtesy of Shelley Niemeier

The beloved Campbell House museum in downtown St. Louis, MO was burglarized last evening. Per STLToday.com, thieves threw a concrete block through a 130-year-old glass pane door and stole cash.

Now, please dial back in your memories and consider the various corporate crises you can recall. Think of the fatuously clumsy, corporatey, all-thumbs responses you’ve seen to controversies. Recall the inability to be self-deprecating, the unwillingness to be open and honest about turmoil, the spin doctoring and the damage control. I usually picture a sweaty room filled with panicky executives worrying about their livelihood.

Does this burglary rise to the level of a corporate crisis that demands PR damage control? It does not. But I have to think that Shelley Niemeier and crew were none too happy this morning. How, then, did they manage to have this much fun with this dreadful situation?

I hope that Campbell House expeditiously recovers from this incident, as I have a wedding to perform there in mid-September.

p.s. It is always time for Schlafly.

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Did Miracle Whip Respond Appropriately?

Posted on July 11, 2012 // 20 Comments

Miracle Whip tweet

For a brand like Miracle Whip, and a company like Kraft Foods, just what IS the proper response to such foul, hateful tweets?

A.) Say nothing at all. This seems to be the choice most corporations would make in this case. Very few people saw the guy’s tweet. There is no point in responding.
B.) Invite the hater to contact a toll-free number to resolve the problem. Funny, I see companies doing that too, and in this case that would be a completely wasted, out-of-touch tweet. This tweeter does not have a solvable problem with Miracle Whip or Kraft.
C.) Say something back that’s sort of snarky, which in this case is what Miracle Whip or the agency tweeting for them did.

I’m kind of liking “C” here. I have no problem with their response, and actually think it positively inures to their brand’s bottom line. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below.

Link to the original tweet here

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