Photo: Motrin and Kmart

Motrin and Kmart

I happened to stumble into Kmart in my local area, went for the Motrin and created this mashup. Popart? Brand Mashup? A case study in a jpg? You be the judge.

If you’re not familiar with how these two brands are related, read the Motrin Moms backstory (they have recently removed the apology from the corporate homepage), and the Kmart sponsored post story.

In reality, when these debacles happen, they are actually brand opportunities. several of the companies on my punk’d list have been able to turn this to their advantage.

Update: I just learned that Burger King has served a ‘cease and desist’ by tweeting for someone creating the ‘whoppervirgins’ account. It’s a going to be an interesting year.

13 Replies to “Photo: Motrin and Kmart”

  5. I wonder if their execs even realize what is going on in all this – or there are just consultants telling them, they pretend to understand, but in reality are confused.

  6. @Josh, no I didn’t buy it, but I did get strange looks as I brought it to the front of the store to take a picture.

    @Adam. I’m sure the Motrin execs are aware, in fact the VP from Johnson and Johnson the parent company were involved in the apology note.

    Kmart execs? I’m not sure if they are aware of what’s going on –that’s a large corporation. I’m sure I’ll run across the Kmart social media team sooner or later –will find out.

  7. It’s funny you’re connecting the dots between Burger King and Kmart. I wrote a post about the Burger King tweet considering whether it maybe part of a campaign. And after writing the post, I thought about the Kmart debacle. What struck me was that the Kmart campaign bothered me and Burger King, if it was a campaign, didn’t. Which got me to thinking about why. It occurred to me that part of what actually bugged me about the Kmart campaign was that it was so unartful. It was just a sponsored post, rather than a campaign that leverages the medium to tell a story in a new and compelling way. Whether or not Burger King planned it, the convergence of their Whopper Virgins commercial, their flame-broiled cologne announcement, and the buzz generated by the Twitter banter between @thebklounge and @whoppervirgins is an innovative and creative use of cross-channel media. It makes sponsored posts look like the equivalent of tv infommercial.

  10. Jeremiah:

    You are right – very odd color schemes. I thought their logo was red and background was white. Hopefully, for them, that is not their new look.

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