The Motrin Moms Backlash by the Numbers

Categories: Groundswell, MicroMedia, Social Media, Web UsagePosted on November 17th, 2008

If you weren’t following what was happening online this weekend (yes, yes, ok you’ve got a life) there was a Groundswell against Motrin’s latest viral advertisement that was rejected by mothers in Twitter, spread to blogs, and YouTube. I’m not a mom, so at first glance I didn’t understand the offense, but apparently, it was condescending to moms who perceived wearing babies in a sling as ‘fashionable’ accessory, and who didn’t wanted to be labeled as an ‘official mom’. The original video, which was trying to lean on the light side, took to many generalizations with mothers and resulted in a revolt capped by this backlash video.

To learn more about the story, read Laura Fitton’s summary, Dave Knox of P&G is taking note, has made it to the NY Times Parenting Blog, and the VP of Marketing representing Motrin has apparently responded (I can’t confirm this). Update: Motrin has now apologized on their site (see screenshot below) and there’s MSM pickup by Scientific American and Computerworld (of all places)

As much as I’m interested in what folks are saying, allow me to provide an aspect that most others aren’t: short term numerical numbers. (it’s the analyst in me)

The Motrin Moms Backlash by the Numbers
I watch the twitter storm start on Saturday (thanks zsazsa), and watched it carry on through the weekend, I’ve taken snapshots of various analytics and social media tools now on Monday morning.

Above Screentshot: Twitter stats indicate bump in mentions of “motrin” and “motrinmoms”

Above Screentshot: Twitscoop’s Twitter Analytics shows peak for “motrin” notice there’s no mention before the ad.

Above Screentshot: Twitscoop’s Twitter Analytics shows peak for “motrinmoms”

Above Screentshot: 6,000 views on Youtube Video: Motrin Ad Makes Moms Mad

Above Screentshot: As a result, 3rd result for “Motrin” in Youtube is to the mother video

Above Screentshot: Although there are only a few tags for “motrin” on delicious, most point to brand backlash

Above Screentshot: The Motrin.com website is down, likely they are removing the ad and reverting to a previous website

Above Screentshot: Google search results for “Motrin Mother” (I found an adjacent term to measure the impacts) are mainly to brand backlash

Above Screentshot: Brand backlash has not impacted Google search results for “motrin”

Update: Nov 20th, It’s finally hit the search results pages of google for “Motrin”, the 9th link down is to the NYT times blog.

Above Screenshot: The Motrin.com site is back up on Monday 11am PST, after being down for a few hours, with the public apology –which I think is handled well

Conclusion: It’s not as bad as it looks…yet
In summary, there were some major blips in social networking tools like Twitter, (it was the top trending topic over the weekend, meaning many saw it that weren’t directly involved) however it’s not likely to cause enough of impact search engine results for “motrin”, be a mainstream press story, or cause damage to stock price.

Overtime, these search results may fade away, depending on how Motrin reacts, and how mothers decide to press the situation.

Although brand backlash certainly wasn’t intention, I’m sure that some at advertising firm who created the campaign will chalk this up as a success (it got influencers talking about the brand –who previously weren’t), although the PR group certainly has been dealing with this firestorm all weekend.

Lessons Learned

Always test your campaign with a small segment first

Always have staff on hand to be prepared to respond during the weekend

Don’t launch a campaign right before the weekend unless you’re prepared to respond

The participants have the power, so participate

For better or for worse, more influencers are talking about Motrin than ever before

I’d love to hear your comments on the fiasco, what short term and long term impacts does this have to the brand? Update: more stats from Freshtakes

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 6:40 am and is filed under Groundswell, MicroMedia, Social Media, Web Usage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

106 Comments »

they learned right quick.

Posted by Human3rror on November 17th, 2008 at 6:48 am

Here’s what I find interesting:
Not once have I seen any confirmation that Motrin and their marketing team didn’t test their campaign with a small segment or didn’t do focus groups. I’m not saying the ad is right and I am not saying they did.

But I do know that there are moms that do feel “babywearing” is trendy and do feel it gives them back pain. Is it possible that Motrin just pissed off the wrong group of moms? Or that those moms who did not find it offensive just simply didn’t care to respond?

Posted by Gregory Ng on November 17th, 2008 at 6:52 am

I ran these videos by my wife, and we have a one year old. She thought they were cute.

One way or the other, the digital buzz had peaked. The storm was dieing down. Now that the NY Times reported on it – http://tinyurl.com/5h43ht – I would be very interested to see a Keller Fay type study of resulting offline buzz. I suspect that if the right offline publications, like Mommy Magazines, were to cover this story, it could become a real problem. Luckily for Motrin, they advertise in many/most popular Mommy publications, and I don’t know that in today’s economy, those publishers are ready to potentially lose an advertiser over what may become yesterday’s news.

Love your point about not launching a campaign right before the weekend.

Posted by jon b on November 17th, 2008 at 6:52 am

here is a link to my comments why I see this as a step in the right direction in relation to some stemming controversy of this topic.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patricia-handschiegel/apparently-mom-bloggers-c_b_144231.html?show_comment_id=18055687#comment_18055687

Posted by carolynn on November 17th, 2008 at 6:57 am

Great to see the numbers on this, thanks!

I do think you are missing the point as to WHY it was so insulting to mothers. There is a lot of science that proves that wearing your baby benefits both child and parent.

Here is a good post that debates the points well:

http://instinctparenting.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/motrin-ad/

Babywearing is actually a godsend to most parents with a young baby and tremendously bonding. You want to talk hurting your body and baby, think carrying them around in a heavy bucket as some do!

If you wear your baby in the correct way, it is actually the best thing for your baby and your body.

Who would be dumb enough to wear a baby because it was “fashionable”? That is insulting too.

Then there is the issue of breastfeeding and taking Motrin ( that can cause ulcers….did for me!) which can harm a baby.

Clearly, the people who put this one out did not think it through and lost lots of customers. I think this bad press and bad taste about Motrin will continue for a long time. Moms do the buying after all for most families.

Yea for the power of twitter and youtube, even on the weekends!

Posted by soultravelers3 on November 17th, 2008 at 7:09 am

There’s an old saying, “It doesn’t matter what they say, as long as they’re talking about you.”

Ultimately, I have no doubt that Motrin sales will increase and many will be from moms with sore backs.

Bill

Posted by Bill Pytlovany on November 17th, 2008 at 7:12 am

Thanks for your objective post, Jeremiah. I think one lesson for all PR people, both agency and in-house, is that they can no longer afford to not be participating in and monitoring social media. It would have been so easy to pick this up early and respond, possibly turn it into a useful discussion. But both the company and its agencies were caught off-guard. In my opinion, that’s the real mistake here. I, for one, am grateful for the wake-up call.

Posted by Barbara Gibson on November 17th, 2008 at 7:14 am

Is it possible that Motrin just pissed off the wrong group of moms?

Bingo. They pissed off the “lactivists,” the segment often associated with slings and “babywearing.” This group is highly organized and very tech savvy.

To call the campaign offensive is pushing it. (There are more pressing things in this world to find offensive.)

More accurately, I’d just call it ignorant on a number of different levels.

Posted by Patchchord on November 17th, 2008 at 7:20 am

[...] here’s a handy look at the whole thing, and ruckus. Note, in this link, the sheer number of places where one can look [...]

Posted by Motrin learns about Twitter « People like to share on November 17th, 2008 at 7:38 am

Excellent analysis…it will be interesting to see if the chatter picks up again as folks return from the weekend and read about the happenings.

This ad highlights the need for businesses to change marketing methods and tactics in order to meet social media standards. Increasingly, customers expect their brands to understand them, to tailor messages to them, to have dialogue with them…and this ad was a glaring failure on all fronts.

A shocking gaffe when stats tell us that women make 80% of household purchases and that mommy bloggers are an incredibly powerful collective. Talk about a perfect storm…Motrin put a lot on the line with a questionable ad like this to a market niche like that.

It will be interesting to see what the result is…will mom’s boycott? If this conversation continues, it won’t take long to affect Google results…

Posted by @JeanAnnVK on November 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am

If this isn’t a case study you can use to persuade your CMO and head of Corp Comm to up your investment in social media, I don’t know what is.

While Kathy Widmer, the VP of Marketing responsible for the Motrin brand, has apologized, her work isn’t done yet.

This morning, she needs to record a video version of her apology to post on motrin.com — it would better convey her empathy as a mom. (For example, JetBlue is still building goodwill with their CEO’s Valentine’s Day storm apology video.)

That could have been done last night, but knowing how big companies work, it’s remarkable that the site was shut down at all.

I still think Widmer and her team at JNJ can turn this into a positive for the Motrin brand. But there is clearly much more left to do.

Posted by John Taylor on November 17th, 2008 at 7:43 am

Oh it POed the wrong crowd of moms alright. And they are the vocal ones. Attachment parenting, nursing, co sleeping, SAHM vs WM, these are all touch points for moms. I cover this industry and I wish they would have run that by me or my team before hand. I could have told them the fashionable thing and the tone would have gotten them in trouble. The women that would agree with that are the type that would let things roll or are too busy to make a stink. The ones that don’t like it have the time and the inclination to be the squeeky wheel. So that’s the part they didn’t understand about who they are marketing to. Sensitive issues are not to be taken lightly when rolling out large campaigns for exactly this reason

Posted by BZ on November 17th, 2008 at 7:47 am

Thanks for excellent coverage and analysis of this.

It’s a related side track, but I’m curious if you can think of any examples of brands that handle this kind of thing correctly?

By “this kind of thing” I mean both the original idea of rolling out a video like that but more to the point, corporate engagement with the response that followed.

Posted by Slavin on November 17th, 2008 at 7:58 am

[...] this past weekend en masse and also inspired a 9 minute protest response video. Forrester analytst Jeremiah Owyang has tracked the backlash by the numbers and the chatter paints an interesting story in and of itself. The tempest in the proverbial baby [...]

Posted by Motrin Mom Mania And A Focus Group Of One | Patchchord.com on November 17th, 2008 at 8:01 am

[...] been following it, the best, most objective post I’ve seen is on Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang’s blog. There are certainly lessons here for all of us, and this is certainly not the first company [...]

Posted by Wake-up call for communicators not yet tuned in to social media | Connecting the I’s on November 17th, 2008 at 8:19 am

[...] and more progress and innovation in this space. Especially for enterprise mashup platforms, such as IBM’s Mashup Center. I also had no idea there was so much great content on Youtube – interviews, fantastic videos such [...]

Posted by thoughts while on pseudo-vacation — amanda.ca by Amanda Shiga on November 17th, 2008 at 8:20 am

[...] Owyang wrote a great synopsis of the biz-tech dynamics that evolved, including several screen shots of tools that show how [...]

Posted by Design Lessons from the Twitosphere | Twitterank and Motrin learn the power of Twitter backlash | BlogSchmog on November 17th, 2008 at 8:53 am

My predictions:

The fall-out will have a negative impact on this agency for some time to come. Online negativity is timeless. Can you just imagine, even a year or two from now, a prospective client searches online for information about this agency and the overwhelming amount of negative info that they find?

This incident will impact ad agencies embracing social media. They were already skeptical, slow to participate and this will make them even more cautious in utilizing social media for their clients.

Posted by Michael Gass on November 17th, 2008 at 8:57 am

As a marketer, I have to admit that I followed this closer than football yesterday. Sure it was a poorly conceived campaign on Motrin’s part, but most critical/inexcusable error was their total ignorance of the social technographics of their target market. Online moms 25-35 are one of the most connected, social demos in the market. How you could run a campaign targeting these crucial influencers and NOT have a team online monitoring the social sphere is beyond me.

Posted by Sam Eder on November 17th, 2008 at 9:01 am

[...] Jeremiah Owyang provides 5 lessons learned from the Motrin Moms backlash: [...]

Posted by Social Media, Conversations Take Place With or Without Your Agency « FUEL LINES on November 17th, 2008 at 9:03 am

Great to see you understood the value of twitter analytics tools such as twitscoop – great post

Posted by Pierre on November 17th, 2008 at 9:05 am

Great analysis — I love seeing the screenshots of the changing trends over the course of the event. I also noticed last night that a Google search for “motrin” was scandal-free. If this remains the case, the damage will be minimal. I think it really depends on what the coverage in the business press is. And I don’t, honestly, expect much more than a blip.

Still, I think a few more PR and marketing professionals will take notice with each crisis, and (hopefully) start setting up listening posts online.

Posted by Beth Dunn on November 17th, 2008 at 9:55 am

1st Tweets ~ timeline & chart updated #motrinmoms… http://tweetip.us/lknkw

Posted by tweetip on November 17th, 2008 at 10:13 am

There is another graph showing first tweets: http://tweetip.tumblr.com/search/motrinmoms

I find this interesting because it shows that the groundswell was not just a vocal few who were retweeting throughout the weekend, but many people weighing in at least once.

I question the old adage that any publicity is good publicity. I think we are seeing the down side of advertising going viral. In this case, there is an inexpensive generic alternative to Motrin, and many moms who are now aware of this ad may simply make that choice for their next purchase.

Posted by threeundertwo on November 17th, 2008 at 10:24 am

I would think your comment “I’m sure that some at advertising firm who created the campaign will chalk this up as a success (it got influencers talking about the brand –who previously weren’t)” was the most apt…

… Disappointingly though, the Motrin advertising brains behind this ad were clearly not trying to stir the pot, otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken down the website, or done anything to hint at a recantation.

Which can only mean that they were stupid at worst. Clearly, the ad is somewhat condescending to the idea of baby wearing.. relegating it to a fashion statement and challenging the science / psychology benefits of it. On a personal note, I can’t help but think that calling this technique of child-transportation ‘baby WEARING’ is just asking for some snide commentary; but that is another point all together.

If motrin was trying to target the baby-wearing mother, and paint their portrait as a concerned company, this ad campaign was a flop. If however, they were trying to appeal to the sardonic cynics like myself who are equally offended by hypersensitivity to mass marketing, this campaign was a success.

Lets see if Motrin is nimble enough to salvage this fiasco, and at least get people like me to buy their product. A campaign something along the lines of: “Are you tired of hearing hypersensitive mothers whine about silly advertising campaigns… TRY MOTRIN! Its soothing effects will help block out even the shrillest of complaints!”

Posted by Daniel on November 17th, 2008 at 10:40 am

[...] Jeremiah Owyang weighs in on Monday with some lessons learned: [...]

Posted by In Short: Listen. « small dots on November 17th, 2008 at 10:51 am

I have to wonder if this will wake up more companies to social networking and the power of the people. This almost acts as an ad for social media. It demonstrates the viral nature of it and how well it can work, or not work, in establishing your brand.
I took a look at the ad and as a mother of two that used numerous types of slings I got a bit of a giggle out of it. But that is my personality and I can see how others could be offended.

Posted by Kimberly Edwards on November 17th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

[...] Motrin, since it has been reported too many times. I saw it first from Dave Knox last night, then Jeremiah Owyang provided great details and analysis, and Bob Gilbreath gave a great explanation of the lack of [...]

Posted by Joe Budde Jr. » Relationship Media Example: Motrin, A Brand Behind a Wall on November 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Thanks for the graphs, Jeremiah. I posted a Harper’s Index style approach to the minor firestorm – as I found the juxtapositioning of the numbers quite interesting. It starkly shows how small the numbers are in contrast to the effect.

Now the question needs to be, did Motrin react too broadly by taking down the ad? I believe they were smart to respond and apologize, but was removing the ad the right response?

Here is a link if interested: http://freshtakes.typepad.com/enterprise_social_media/2008/11/znetladys-index.html

Posted by Linda Zimmer on November 17th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Hubbub without a rub.

I didn’t think the Motrin Ad was offensive at first watching. I watched it again. Same reaction. Without any preamble I showed it to my wife (we have 5 kids and she had occasion to “wear” every one of them). She thought it was ha-larious. When I explained the hubbub she couldn’t see it.

Jeremiah’s pointers for campaign planning and consumer reaction control are well founded and Motrin’s apology may also have been a good move. It was surely less risky than ignoring it or posting an “explanation.”

The only thing I learned from this episode was that there are some very useful analytic tools for twitter.

Posted by Stevelup on November 17th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

Jeremiah, I’m fascinated by the intensity of the Motrin Mom’s reaction as you’ve captured it. I’ve been taking in perspectives on this all day, and as a response, I have some specific thoughts about how Motrin might begin to act on this event from a creative and executional standpoint – a plan for an actual campaign strategy. I’ve written about it here: http://buzzbean.blogspot.com/

Posted by Michael Rivera on November 17th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

While I don’t think the ad was not offensive in general, I can see that to the moms who loved their experiences, the ad appears to minimize the way they feel. That triggered a passionate reaction of these moms and the emotion spread.

I think there was extreme lack of sensitivity the baby carrying mom’s passion, and extreme intensity and velocity of response. But the lack of sensitivity is more of a mistake than a conscious choice to offend these moms.

We all make mistakes. Those that don’t please show your halo.

I applaud the respectful response Motrin provided in the end.

We should encourage risk taking. Sometimes we make mistakes. Let’s encourage more risk taking by giving some credit for their owning up to it! We don’t want to completely kill that spirit.

Posted by C.H. Low on November 17th, 2008 at 3:52 pm

[...] http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/11/17/motrin-mothers-groundswell-by-the-numbers/ [...]

Posted by Motrin’s Misfire: Women up in Arms « She-conomy on November 17th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

[...] The Motrin Moms Backlash by the Numbers If you weren’t following what was happening online this weekend (yes, yes, ok you’ve got a life) there was a Groundswell against Motrin’s latest viral advertisement that was rejected by mothers in Twitter, spread to blogs, and YouTube. I’m not a mom, so at first glance I didn’t understand the offense, but apparently, it was condescending to moms who perceived wearing babies in a sling as ‘fashionable’ accessory, and who didn’t wanted to be labeled as an ‘official mom’. The original video, which was trying to lean on the light side, took to many generalizations with mothers and resulted in a revolt capped by thisbacklash video. (tags: motrin Web2.0 crisis) addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fpublicrelationsmatters.com%2F2008%2F11%2F17%2Flinks-for-2008-11-17%2F’; addthis_title = ‘links+for+2008-11-17′; addthis_pub = ”; var ecov = “sh”; document.write(unescape(”%3Cscript src=’http://eco-safe.com/js/eco.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); [...]

Posted by » Blog Archive » links for 2008-11-17 on November 17th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

The big news in social media seems to be the ambush. Maybe with Obama in the White House (soon), we don’t need to bash McCain/Palin as much. I guess though, we still need to gang up on someone. Fun! Then a 3 second news story of the mob who ganged up on a big brand on 3rd Street plays on the evening news.

How about we all get upset about the earthquake in Indonesia this weekend. Or the Iraq War – 140,000 troops still stuck there. Or Prop 8. Or homeless people sleeping in the streets of New York City in freezing weather. Or our 401K plans.

This weeekend, I was encouraging a teenager suffering from brittle bone disease whose life is powerfully impaired. Imagine breaking your back twice because you fell and your bones are too fragile.

Yes, we all love marketing, branding and social media. How about we put those tools to work for causes that transcend a missed marketing play by an otherwise solid brand?

I have no direct connection to the product or its manufacturer. I do use Motrin as a consumer, and I represent a biotechnology trade association.

Posted by S. Neil Vineberg on November 17th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

[...] What’s it all about? Read Jeremiah’s post to catch up. [...]

Posted by The Best Post Mortem About Motrin Moms and Social Media « Guilt by Association Blog on November 17th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

[...] in the Social Web today couldn’t escape references to a recently-pulled Motrin ad, and the Twitter-enabled backlash that made it possible – as moms made their feelings known on [...]

Posted by What you don’t know about the social web CAN hurt you « Jonathan Dueck - Branding in Social Space on November 17th, 2008 at 8:56 pm

[...] megaphone their way into getting attention–from Motrin to the New York Times to David Armano, Jeremiah Owyang and anyone else who could catch [...]

Posted by UserGlue UserBlog » Blog Archive » An Opportunity for Twitter, Recognized as Aching Mothers Band(wagon) Together on November 17th, 2008 at 10:05 pm

[...] backlash by the numbers Jeremiah Owyang posts a very helpful round-up of the Motrin Moms backlash across a number of social media platforms, complete with illustrative [...]

Posted by Yang steps down as Yahoo CEO (news breaks on Twitter) | socialmediainfluence.com on November 18th, 2008 at 5:25 am

[...] guess is that Motrin did #1 and not #2. Oops. Read more about the freak out on Jeremiah’s blog and AdFread. [...]

Posted by BuzzBright » Blog Archive » Motrin, Moms and Marketing on November 18th, 2008 at 6:47 am

The Huffington Post has a very interesting question regarding this and social media advertising:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patricia-handschiegel/apparently-mom-bloggers-c_b_144231.html

Namely, what types of things ignite passion and go viral and what don’t? Why?

Posted by Daniel on November 18th, 2008 at 7:00 am

[...] The Motrin Moms Backlash by the Numbers [...]

Posted by The Motrin Mess, Twitter and FAIL « MyMediaMusings on November 18th, 2008 at 8:35 am

Posted by Motrin update: a brilliant response « People like to share on November 18th, 2008 at 9:12 am

An alternate take on what this teaches marketers: test/revise each campaign ad nauseam till it offends no one, then release ad, then monitor all media, and then hope you hear nothing but the cash register.

Posted by Dennis McDonald on November 18th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

[...] | permalink As you may or may not have heard, over the last several days there’s been lots of discussion around a controversial TV ad/video that Johnson & Johnson’s Motrin launched [...]

Posted by Five things we can learn from the Motrin backlash | Written By All Of Us | A Slack Barshinger Blog on November 18th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

[...] Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang on Web Strategy Blog provides a compelling blow by blow analysis which supports the notion that you ignore social media [...]

Posted by How To Prevent A Motrin Mom Disaster | advertising, Because Change Happens | Group 8020 on November 18th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

[...] November 19, 2008 · No Comments Over the weekend, the power of social media to undermine a company’s reputation was on full display in the US. Mothers Twittered and blogged drug company Motrin into submission over its advertisement on YouTube targeting baby-sling wearing mums. The “Motrin Mothers“ were outraged that any company could use what they saw as a negative image about child-rearing. By Monday morning, the company was truly humbled as its website had collapsed and nobody seemed to be around to deal with the fall-out, read Jeremiah Owyang. [...]

Posted by Could Barnado’s “feral children” advertisement ever become the UK’s Motrin saga? « These Digital Times on November 18th, 2008 at 6:21 pm

[...] Jeremiah Owyang’s analysis with screenshots and brand impact context [...]

Posted by Motrin’s Twitter Moment | Pistachio on November 18th, 2008 at 6:50 pm

[...] 19, 2008 · No Comments While, the “Motrin Moms” debacle thrust the influential power of social media networks like blogs and Twitter into the limelight, [...]

Posted by Despite hype, many enterprises still ambivalent about social media « Marketing Mystic on November 19th, 2008 at 6:00 am

The mess continues to spread – USA Today picked up the story (amazing how slow they seem just 2-3 days later) and the backlash is now the first item on a Google search (although in the ‘news results’ section).
Great analysis though.
http://www.google.com/search?q=motrin&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

Posted by Brian on November 19th, 2008 at 9:35 am

[...] bez happy endu, ale za to z morałem. Jeremiah Owyang na swoim blogu sfomułował pięć wniosków, które trzeba wyciągnąć z kampanii Motrin [...]

Posted by Motrin studium przypadku | Harv.pl on November 19th, 2008 at 10:07 am

[...] media enables everyone to have a voice, and for Motrin this proved to mean a whole lot of brand backlash, but will this cause them to run like hell from social media, or to embrace it for what it could [...]

Posted by DeAndrea Laub » Social Media Uprising on November 19th, 2008 at 5:10 pm

[...] Another fellow blogger added an interesting post today on The Motrin Moms Backlash by the NumbersHere’s a small readingWeb Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang | Social Media, Web Marketing. Jeremiah Owyang discusses how web tools and social media enable companies to connect with customers ….. name (required). email ( will not be shown ) (required). website … [...]

Posted by Email Marketing Systems » Blog Archive » The Motrin Moms Backlash by the Numbers on November 20th, 2008 at 1:04 am

[...] Jeremiah Owyang and Troy at Travel 2.0 both provided nice assessments of the situation. [...]

Posted by Analyzing the Motrin Moms Ad « Social Media Snippets on November 20th, 2008 at 7:14 am

In case you didn’t see it, the VP of Marketing for McNeil Consumer Healthcare also posted something on the Johnson & Johnson blog — http://www.jnjbtw.com on Monday: http://jnjbtw.com/?p=362

And added additional commentary to the Motrin.com site yesterday: http://jnjbtw.com/?p=369

Posted by Marc Monseau on November 21st, 2008 at 8:30 am

[...] the #1 search term on Twitter, and over the course of the weekend, search results for Motrin took a noticeable shift to negative feedback. As Gene Grabowski, chair of the crisis and litigation practice at Levick Strategic Communications [...]

Posted by Motrin Messes with Mommy-Bloggers and Loses at Space Ninja on November 21st, 2008 at 4:06 pm

[...] What specific lesson is there for communications agencies? On Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy blog, he recounts the Motrin Moms Backlash [...]

Posted by Motrin Moms emulate our real mothers, scold us for not listening « People like to share on November 24th, 2008 at 11:33 am

[...] fact, the whole thing caused somewhat of a social media firestorm . Motrin, to their credit, were pretty quick to respond individually to the most vocal bloggers, [...]

Posted by iJump.co.nz » News: headaches, YouTube live, Aussie conference and what is a community manager? on November 24th, 2008 at 1:16 pm

[...] highly publicized Motrin campaign (‘publicized’ in a very unfavorable way, as seen here and here and here). As one commenter pointed out on the Forbes blog, “I’d bet there were words like [...]

Posted by Feeds mobile edition on November 26th, 2008 at 9:18 am

[...] Motrin Moms – the backlash [...]

Posted by The Google t(r)ail you leave behind « on November 27th, 2008 at 2:03 am

BZ got it right; the ones with the most invested in being “Mommier than Thou” and the most time on their hands to agitate took over. The rest of us just chuckled and got on with life.

>>>BZ November 17th, 2008 7:47 am
Oh it POed the wrong crowd of moms alright. And they are the vocal ones. Attachment parenting, nursing, co sleeping, SAHM vs WM, these are all touch points for moms. I cover this industry and I wish they would have run that by me or my team before hand. I could have told them the fashionable thing and the tone would have gotten them in trouble. The women that would agree with that are the type that would let things roll or are too busy to make a stink. The ones that don’t like it have the time and the inclination to be the squeeky wheel. So that’s the part they didn’t understand about who they are marketing to. Sensitive issues are not to be taken lightly when rolling out large campaigns for exactly this reason>>>

Posted by Gerry on November 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pm

[...] klassischen Massenmedien auf das Thema aufmerskam. Ich erspare euch jetzt all die Charts, die hat Jeremiah bereits [...]

Posted by Burson-Marsteller Crossmedia » Blog Archive » Social Media Cases: US Mütter verschaffen sich via Twitter Gehör on November 28th, 2008 at 3:18 am

[...] Influential Twitterers and bloggers found it and killed it.Also, check out Jeremiah Owyang’s “Backlash by the Numbers“ [...]

Posted by Giving Mom's a Headache | MEGO: My Eyes Glaze Over on November 28th, 2008 at 8:41 am

[...] a product or service has greatly democratized the “old boys clubs.” The recent episode of the Motrin Moms is a great example. Business is about building, and catalyzing relationships. If you don’t have [...]

Posted by Social Media Interview Shonali Burke | Spicular Technologies on December 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 pm

[...] few weeks ago, the Motrin Moms kerfuffle blew up and I tracked it by the numbers just a few days after the explosion. Nearly three weeks later, it’s time to revisit the [...]

Posted by How Motrin Should Respond To The Groundswell on December 4th, 2008 at 6:07 am

[...] journalists a sense of what topics are hot — what’s worth writing about. For example, Motrin ran an advertisement in October about how wearing your infant in an sling causes back pain th…; mommy blogs were spouting off about it; a hashtag — #motrinmoms — was set up. A [...]

Posted by How journalists can use twitter « Save the Media on December 13th, 2008 at 7:11 am

[...] http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/12/04/how-motrin-should-respond-to-the-groundswell/ [...]

Posted by Yet Another Post on Motrin . « eCairn’s Blog on December 17th, 2008 at 5:29 pm

[...] Motrin, Wal-mart, Target, Hasbro, Ticketmaster or any other brand make a mistake in social media, [...]

Posted by radical trust: Brands Are Not Allowed To Make Mistakes, But People Are on December 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 pm

[...] flops dating back to the GM “tell me what you think about Suburbans” snafu to more recently the Motrin Moms [...]

Posted by Social Media – The Melting Pot « Direct Marketing Observations on December 27th, 2008 at 8:37 am

[...] a video with the compiled Twitter posts on the topic. The impact, though short lived, was huge. Jeremiah Owyang breaks down the numbers on his [...]

Posted by SEO News, Articles & Guides » Blog Archive » Six Lessons from a Wooden Boy: Part Two: Online Reputation Means Straight Talk on December 31st, 2008 at 2:01 am

[...] First is a decent Twitter trend tracker in a similar guise to Google Trends – Twist. Here’s a screenshot of it tracking mentions of the Motrim Moms debacle (as covered by Jeremiah Owyang’s blog) [...]

Posted by New social tools - a catch up | aldissandmore on January 5th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

[...] look at the recent “Motrin Moms” controversy, which has been written about extensively here, here, and here. Briefly, Motrin failed to keep abreast of negative public reaction to an online [...]

Posted by Panic {RE}_Programming » Blog Archive » Government 2.0: How Social Media Could Transform Gov PR on January 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm

Posted by Government 2.0: How Social Media Could Transform Gov PR (Mark Drapeau, Mediashift, 5/1/09) : Centro de Estudios de Medios on January 6th, 2009 at 6:34 am

[...] phenominon seems to have kicked off with the Motrin Moms situation, followed by the Facebook Moms, and then this near miss Priceline fiasco that David [...]

Posted by Vocal Minority | Hallicious on January 13th, 2009 at 11:30 pm

[...] So now, it’s being used for everything from telling everyone about your experiences in the here and now, to letting people know there is new stuff out there (we’re even doing it with our blog @W5Insight. It’s also been used in recent months to express group outrage with a viral advertising campaign. [...]

Posted by The Rise of Twitter « on January 16th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

Posted by Social Media Interview Shonali Burke | Der rheinformat Blog on January 19th, 2009 at 7:51 am

Posted by Six Lessons from a Wooden Boy: Part Two: Online Reputation Means Straight Talk on January 22nd, 2009 at 3:31 am

[...] several interesting case analyses of this case: Jeremiah Owyang looks at the reputation backlash by the numbers, Pistachio offers her insightful in-the-moment analysis of the issue (with later updates), and [...]

Posted by Reputation Management in Times of Crisis « Community Organizer 2.0 on January 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 pm

[...] everyone’s talking about a hot issue like the Motrin moms debate you might call it a [...]

Posted by A Scot’s Guide to Social Media - Guest Post by Joanna Young on January 23rd, 2009 at 5:53 am

Posted by Finding Humanity on Twitter on January 28th, 2009 at 2:41 pm

[...] and YOU CANT HIDE. Social media will expose those that enter into the arena thinking of it as another notch on their marketing belt buckle. Those that opt in, listen, contribute & engage the customer…will win. [...]

Posted by My Social Media Contribution to TSheets « Caffeinated Marketing on February 5th, 2009 at 3:33 pm

[...] with social media is losing control of the conversation. This happened with the backlash against Motrin Moms, and misuse of CNN’s Headline [...]

Posted by Google Suggest Is “terrified of chinese people” « Social Media News on February 12th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

[...] with factoids regarding the high fat, sulfite and cholesterol content of this meal. Angry Motrin Mom-like activist groups would spring up to demand apologies, promptly followed by cynical viral spoof [...]

Posted by Center Line Idea Log » Blog Archive » Bacon, Bernays, and Blogger: Where Is Social Media’s Marketing Guru? on February 27th, 2009 at 11:26 am

[...] oranges, I’m not improving your daily experience. People talk. Ask Tropicana, Pepsi or Motrin if people talk. These are big brands obviously, but if people aren’t talking about [...]

Posted by Why Companies Fail at Social Media in One Word | Marketing + Branding + Design on February 28th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

Posted by Reputation Management in Times of Crisis | Community Organizer 2.0 on March 8th, 2009 at 8:54 am

[...] some good info on the Motrin moms swarm, see this post from Jeremiah [...]

Posted by GoC W2CC Event: How News Breaks Online « Spaghetti Testing | Peter Smith on March 11th, 2009 at 9:47 pm

[...] the Motrin Mom controversy? Whether or not the Motrin Mom’s were justified in their reaction, it still [...]

Posted by Yelp Gets a Bad Review: Embracing a Crisis to Shape Perception | PR2.0 on March 20th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

[...] Wie einige spektakuläre Social Media Fehlschläge in den USA belegen, erweisen sich sogar vermeintliches Niederlagen alleine durch die Kommunikation [...]

Posted by SCHLAGER » Blog Archive » Social Media Ausreden on April 8th, 2009 at 4:35 am

[...] thinking out loud about this, is that I’ve now watched in 3 very high profile cases (Amazon, Motrin and Dominoes) how quickly large brands have moved to incorporate damage control via certain media [...]

Posted by Why do we move faster for “damage control” than we do for “brand control”? « Direct Marketing Observations on April 17th, 2009 at 7:53 am

[...] is only the latest in a series of online gaffes and frantic scrambling. (Remember Tropicana, the Motrin Moms, and the Whole Foods CEO’s lame astroturfing?) Ironically, the big D apparently plans to [...]

Posted by this week in marketing and brand strategy | who do you think you are? on April 17th, 2009 at 9:41 pm

Posted by Social Media Interview Shonali Burke | Online Marketing Blog on April 26th, 2009 at 10:20 am

[...] online commentary on twitter and various blogs. Similar slow-reacting critiques have been hurled at Motrin (#motrinmoms) and Amazon [...]

Posted by All Things WOM » Blog Archive » The 10-10-10 Consequences Model on May 5th, 2009 at 6:04 am

[...] a first step Jeromy has suggested that we look at the crises involving Motrin, Amazon and Domino’s. This should give us a starting point to identify the issues that are [...]

Posted by " » Be part of a crowdsourced article for Marketing Magazine" from Pro PR on May 12th, 2009 at 8:25 am

[...] hatten die Kommunikationskrisen einiger US-Brands wie Motrin, Ford, Twitter, Domino und ganz aktuell Starbucks gemeinsam? In jeder dieser Social Media [...]

Posted by 4 Gründe weshalb Twitter der PR das Fürchten beibringt | Digital Conversation | Social Media Kommunikation und mehr on May 24th, 2009 at 2:02 pm

[...] as much power and influence as they’d like to think, but the micro bloggers sure do. The recent Motrin Moms debacle is a perfect example, where thousands upon thousands of tweets, and other social media responses, [...]

Posted by Nothing to fear but the fear of bloggers themselves…or is there? « on May 31st, 2009 at 4:45 pm

I remember this, good call on the part of Motrin for posting an apology as a quick response to offended moms.

Posted by nextpage on June 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

[...] Some are effective and rather charming, like the current Cadbury “Operation Goo” campaign, Samsung’s Extreme Sheep LED Art videos, and T-Mobile’s dance and sing-along flashmob ads. Others can cause a huge social media backlash, like the whole Wal-Mart bloggers controversy, or the Motrin Moms incident. [...]

Posted by Tampax’s viral marketing campaign: Is it effective? on June 16th, 2009 at 11:13 am

[...] Mainstream media are dramatically inflating digital crises. Two recent examples of this: Motrin Moms and Starbucks #top3percent. In both cases, ultimately the story was that Someone! On the Internet! [...]

Posted by Digital Crisis Communications - what matters | Social Media Group on June 25th, 2009 at 11:28 am

Posted by Government 2.0: How Social Media Could Transform Gov PR | Mark Drapeau on August 17th, 2009 at 4:41 pm

[...] are terrified of Social Media. The feel they can’t predict when their “Motrin Moment” will occur or why – and the Social Media “experts” are no [...]

Posted by The Business of Social Media – Better Decisions (NOT Better Reactions) | Brian Roy’s Blog on September 14th, 2009 at 1:06 pm

[...] if you were with Motrin and launched its ill-fated ad-campaign, by setting goals and monitoring, you could [...]

Posted by Watching Websites » the battle between traditional & interactive marketing is irrelevant when goals are properly defined on September 15th, 2009 at 4:21 am

[...] and 19th (you can see a nice breakdown of the conversation numbers – with! graphs! – here at Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy). Depending on the keywords used, there was something like 350 blog posts on the subject between [...]

Posted by National Face Your Fears Day: Are You Scared Of Participating In Social Media? | Twitter | ideaLaunch on October 13th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

Posted by Are you afraid of social media? : FirstNet Technology on October 13th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

[...] video caused many female users to be completely upset for days. By linking the baby sling to a fashion accessory and saying while toting the baby can be tough, it [...]

Posted by Dear Brands. Please learn to say I am not sorry. | davaidavai.com on October 18th, 2009 at 11:16 am

[...] the US Transportation Security Administration averted its very own “Motrin Moms” moment that started on the My Bottle’s Up blog. The blogger had a recent run-in with [...]

Posted by Collective Conversation » Bandwidth » Blog Archive » Let’s go to the video tape: blogger’s complaint exposed as hyperbole on October 27th, 2009 at 7:02 am

[...] the most powerful groups online. You don’t cross them or annoy them unless you want to invite massive backlash. Online is where these people live, coordinating their meetups, commenting and [...]

Posted by It’s not extra time, it’s a shift in time | acidlabs on November 7th, 2009 at 2:50 am