The Intersection of Online and Offline

OK.  I have pretty much beaten this one into the ground, but Motrin yesterday responded on “Crunchy Domestic Goddess‘” blog (I could not make that name up) with a sound, well-conceived apology.

I have posted it verbatim below.  It is not only authentic and sincere, but by listing her contact information, Kathy also proves that her effort is sincere and transparent.  I have posted Kathy’s contact information since it is already out there, but if I had received such a polite apology, I am not sure that I would have posted her contact info.  I think that Kathy’s phone is most likely ringing off the hook today and her email box is jammed.

Mark

Dear Amy -

I am the Vice President of Marketing for McNeil Consumer Healthcare. I have responsibility for the Motrin Brand, and am responding to concerns about recent advertising on our website. I am, myself, a mom of 3 daughters.

We certainly did not mean to offend moms through our advertising. Instead, we had intended to demonstrate genuine sympathy and appreciation for all that parents do for their babies. We believe deeply that moms know best and we sincerely apologize for disappointing you. Please know that we take your feedback seriously and will take swift action with regard to this ad. We are in process of removing it from our website. It will take longer, unfortunately, for it to be removed from magazine print as it is currently on newstands and in distribution.

-Kathy

Kathy Widmer
VP of Marketing - Pain, Pediatrics, GI, Specialty
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
215-273-8192
kwidmer@mccus.jnj.com

P.S. - Additionally, the Motrin site is back up with an apology on the index page.

I don’t usually blog about the same topic on two consecutive days, but there has been so much intelligent discussion out there, that I thought I would add this to the mix.

Peter Shankman, he of the “HARO” - Help a Reporter Out, blogged this morning with a different perspective, one of not blaming the ad itself, but stating, correctly, that they messed up with one of the most connected, viral and powerful online communities - mommy bloggers. And I would even broaden the term from “mommy bloggers” to “moms online,” because while many of them comment and connect, not all of them blog.  I love Peter’s take (as well as HARO):

Let’s be honest - when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia rocks the house, yet search.twitter.com pulls up #Motrinmoms as the lead story, somewhere, there’s a disconnect. But it’s a disconnect that, when you think about it, makes perfect sense.

I’m not siding with Motrin. They messed up, granted. I’m ok with that. Companies mess up all the time. They fix the problem, and it usually doesn’t make the radar screen. The problem is, Motrin happened to mess up at the expense, and in the face of, one of the most vocal, quickest-to-blog, “strongest-to-band-together-and-form-one-opinion-like-the-Borg” collectives out there - The Mommy-Blogging community.

Now I am NOT slagging on Mommy-Bloggers. Not in the slightest. Nor, am I saying they’re over-reacting to the commercial, which, by rights, was stupid and patronizing. What I AM saying though, is that Motrin will pay a MUCH bigger price, as opposed to if they’d messed up in front of say, “Construction-Worker-Bloggers.” Mommy-Bloggers are not a voice to be messed with, probably because they’re one of the most clearly identifiable voices on the web. You have a kid? You blog about said kid? You’re a Mommy-blogger. You don’t need an advanced degree in particle physics to see what these bloggers have in common.

Dear Ad Agency (I am not calling them out because so many others have and will):  if you are going to eff up with a group, make sure you have your act together.  Make sure that your targeted online community will will respond at least positively, and at worst, not organize a campaign AGAINST you.

P.S. - and in the “totally weak” category, www.motrin.com is DOWN (as of 7:45am EST).  I guess there were not enough people to simply restore the ad.  Weak, weak, weak, guys.   Where is the dark or backup site?  Is Tylenol a case study that does not still resonate?  You can do better, Motrin.

Jesus, I have a headache just reading this.

Mark

Happened to stumble across this today on Laura Fitton’s Pistachio Consulting Blog, but I have found another reason to toss on the heaping pile of why companies should have robust reputation management programs that include Twitter feeds.  An ad on the Motrin site has a running monologue of a mother essentially complaining of back pain from carrying her baby.

I did not find the ad particularly offensive, but there are a whole lot of people who did.  When you read this, go to Twitter search and look for #motrinmoms.  These guys are getting barbecued like a rack of ribs on the 4th of July.  And guess what?

• The ad is still up.
• Now there is an “anti” video that sprung up in Internet time (below).  The ad shows negative Tweets AND HAPPY MOMS CARRYING THEIR BABIES. Oh - and it was not lost on me that the soundtrack of the “anti” clip was “Danny Boy.” Heh.

If this does not make the case for robust online issues management, I don’t know what does.  Remains to be seen what impact this can have on sales, but geez, a multimillion dollar company in a highly competitive space does not need to have this stuff hanging out there, even as a write this on a Sunday night.

Mark