Twitterers, Bloggers Praise Motrin for Giving Them Something to Do Last Weekend
by Peter Kafka
Posted on November 17, 2008 at 5:02 AM PT
Good thing we’ve resolved the global financial crisis, the global terror crisis, and the global warming crisis. Otherwise the blogosphere wouldn’t have had time to rail about a Web video ad campaign from Motrin over the weekend.
The story: Big pharma Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) has rolled out a Web clip (below) in which a snarky, knowing commentator gripes about the social pressure to “wear” babies in slings, carriers, etc–and the Motrin-ready aches that “wearing” a baby can cause. And in the last few days lots of blogger/Twitterers have agreed that:
- The ad is offensive.
- Motrin/JNJ doesn’t “get” social marketing.
- Something should be done! Maybe a boycott.
How many bloggers/Twitterers are actually complaining about this? And are there enough to hurt JNJ, which made an estimated $1 billion in profit from Motrin each year? Mmmmmmaybe.
Tools like Google’s blog search and Twitter’s Summize search will tell you that, yes, some number of people are chattering about this on the Web. And as of 8:07 a.m. Monday, the Motrin.com site was down, whatever that means. But from what I can tell, only a few thousand people have actually seen the ad on Google’s (GOOG) YouTube. I’ve asked video watcher TubeMogul for info on the ad’s audience and will update when I get it.
But even if the outrage is widespread, it’s going to be hard make a connection between online chatter and real-world results. Otherwise Ron Paul would be the 44th President of the United States.
Meanwhile, at the risk of a cyber-stoning, let me say that I don’t think the ad–which seems to be aiming at the same set of people who buy very expensive strollers but feel a bit conflicted about doing so–is an outrage. And neither does the person who does most of the baby-wearing in my house.
I ran it by her in the twilight hours this morning, between feedings, and she shrugged: “It’s true.” Then she went back to sleep.
UPDATE: Twitter Moms unite! JNJ has apologized, and is very, very sorry. Kathy Widmer sends Forbes.com this mea culpa:
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.”
Lesson: Carping on Twitter does indeed work. Sometimes.
Comments
The ad is okay but not very effective. I don’t get a strong sense of Motrin branding. (As I just wrote that sentence, I originally wrote in, “Bayer.”)
I didn’t see a quantum leap between problem and solution where you see the product in a new light. It’s more of a, “well duh,” moment. New parents do have aches and pains but that’s not news and there are many products that can help them.
Posted by Ken Okel at November 17th, 2008 at 5:27 amI find the ad as effective in a sense that many were complaining about it
but Motrin should have considered the feelings of moms. With their move right now to remove it online and release a public apology, it only proves that twitting, as you said, is indeed effective in letting them know how people (specially moms) feels about it.
Posted by Felixberto Baguyo at November 17th, 2008 at 5:59 amIt’s not really about whether or not the ad was offensive or worthy of note.
The question is: why wasn’t someone from J&J on Twitter at 3pm on Sunday issuing this apology instead of on Forbes.com after Motrin’s website crashed?
And are other companies going to learn from this?
Posted by Julie Duffy at November 17th, 2008 at 7:32 amBurton should be so responsive about the complaints from mothers about their Primo and Love series of snowboards. J&J has learned the hard way that being responsive to their customers and doing the right thing, even when it isn’t easy, wins them tremendous goodwill with their customers.
Posted by Heather Snyder at November 17th, 2008 at 11:56 amA nice article. We should stress the apparent little research that was done in developing this campaign. Doesn’t it seem obvious that poking fun at mothers carrying babies will not materialize into a positive reaction? Either way, a simple focus group or online testing would have solved this mess before it became one.
Posted by Ari Ratner at November 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pm