Fill in the blank: All Publicity is….Publicity?

Aldi recently tweeted a fill-in-the-blank post “I became an ALDI lover when I tasted ______ for the first time” along with the hashtags ‘tellus’ and ‘feedback’. But the social media campaign was soon deleted after it was predictably and publicly torn to shreds over the internet.

The campaign was almost immediately met trolled responses such as “your mum”, “diarrhea” and “butts”. The unsuccessful twitter campaign has sparked conversation and media attention, but not the kind Aldi would want associated with its family brand image.

Other big brands have made this blunder in the past. In 2011, Qantas encountered a twitter disaster when they asked passengers to hashtag “QantasLuxury” to enter a competition to win first class gift pack. Passengers started using the hashtag to voice their complaints about the recent strikes, delays and flights cancellations.

Social media marketing is the way of the future and it is changing how businesses market to businesses and consumers and its expansive reach is one of its major benefits. That said, companies need to be mindful and street smart when devising social media campaigns, to ensure the reputation and goodwill they’ve worked for isn’t undermined by an ill-conceived idea.