Motrin Thought Moms Needed Pain Relief!

Two noticeable faux-pas this week: the Motrin Moms ad and the Big 3 CEOs.

I saw a print version of the Motrin Moms ad this weekend and I still don’t think it’s a big deal – or big faux-pas. Motrin was trying to show Moms that they identify with the pain of carrying their children. Is that so bad? Apparently it was bad enough to some that Motrin pulled the ad and apologized profusely to Moms everywhere.

Here’s the impact of social media: one or two women let loose on Twitter about the ad because it offended them and before ya know it, the word and empathy responses spread like wildfire launching an uproar that quickly reached Motrin execs. Motrin was able to see the upset, respond to it in real time and hopefully extinguish the fire.

Social media in this instance is a double-edged sword. Simple and somewhat harmless comments, when latched on to by the masses, can make mountains out of molehills. Ads with minor (or major) faux-pas have been running for years and likely still offended small groups of society. With no mass outlet for their thoughts they were unnoticed, unheard, and eventually went away to purchase other brands. Companies like Motrin were none-the-wiser. Today consumer-facing companies have front line access to this information by simply subscribing to micro-blogger sites like Twitter and social media sites like Facebook. Elevated activity on their brand reaches them quickly and they can respond to negative outcries appropriately. Has the public apology by J&J been accepted by Moms? Are these Moms even consumers of Motrin? Would they be now? These are all tough (maybe even impossible) questions to answer. Moral of the story? Micro-blogging sites like Twitter can make and break your brand. Not participating means not knowing what’s going on and not knowing what’s going on means you are defenseless in a very big world.

Next. The Big Three Auto Manufacturers. Boys, boys, boys. Honestly. This one boggles my mind. I can hear the conversation now between any one of the CEOs and his assistant: “Jane, I have to go to DC to get us more money. Get James over here immediately with the car to take me to the airport. Make sure the jet is fueled and I’ll need to eat on the way, so have my chef prepare a lobster bisque, prime rib and oh, that 100-year old scotch I like would be nice. Oh and can you please run to the cleaners and pick up my suit. I’ll also need a new pair of shoes so maybe stop and get me a couple pairs to try on your way back.” Honestly. What are they thinking?

They went to Washington to ask for taxpayer bail-out money in the arrogant fashion that has landed them in this mess to begin with.

Here’s an open letter to the Big 3. You didn’t have your eye on the ball boys. This slide has been coming for years. There are fewer people on the planet with the income to buy cars, and those people aren’t buying SUVs and trucks. They’re buying Priuses, SmartCars, Minis and Vespas. They’re moving out of the burbs into the downtown core, taking transit and riding their bikes to work. They have memberships with Zip Car and AutoShare and care about the planet. The Boomers are thinking about retiring some day and aren’t buying new cars either. And they’re certainly not buying gas guzzlers. The impact of not recognizing this and acting on it years ago is phenomenal. Consider the trickle down effect of this: GM’s Oshawa truck plant is closing in May. Those employees will likely become proud members of EI at least for a while, suppliers to that plant will need to scale back and lay off staff who will also join EI at least for a while. These people will not be spending money on luxury (or required) items and the economy continues to tumble.

Bail them out? The auto industry will not return to the hay-day it once had. There will continue to be fewer people buying cars as family sizes shrink and the next generation opts out of polluting the planet. This is a slippery slip isn’t it? Does the bail out include a mandate to slash executive salaries? The aggressive commitment and plan to phase out large vehicles? The commitment to retrain line workers for new jobs in building mass transit and hybrid vehicles?

Can’t wait to see the response by the Big 3 to this week’s faux-pas by them.
Can’t wait to see Motrin’s next ad for headache relief.