At some point, back-peddling is no longer a viable damage control option. We’d say that point comes somewhere between screaming obscenities in all caps at critics via Facebook, and hurling vague threats while claiming to be a superhero backed by God himself.

Yeah, that happened.

After Gordon Ramsay of reality show “Kitchen Nightmares” declared Arizona restaurant Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro so horrible that even he couldn’t help the owners rescue their establishment, those owners, Amy and Sammy, took to social media to bite back at critics. Here are a few of the most…um…interesting Facebook posts (if you’re offended by the F word, you should probably stop reading):

Read more

On a planet divided by violent political, sectarian, and international rifts, it’s nice to know that sworn enemies can share a deep admiration for one historical figure who was so much more than a man. Years ago, this misunderstood prophet dared to buck the tide and bring humanity together in the name of an all-encompassing love—the love of crispy, delicious fried chicken.

That man, of course, was KFC founder Colonel Harland David Sanders, and this week the trusty fourth estate brings us multiple stories about residents of Palestine’s volatile Gaza Strip region going above and beyond for a little taste of his special sauce.

Finger lickin’ good PR? Yeah…no.

Read more

Every brand on Earth is chomping at the bit to place official ads on the rapidly growing Instagram, but parent company Facebook continues to proceed with extreme caution.

While Mark Zuckerberg says he is very encouraged by the expansion of the image-sharing network, he clearly does not plan to open the commercial floodgates until he’s good and ready. In his own words, Instagram must first focus on “build[ing] community” before determining how best to use its considerable potential as an ad/marketing forum. We can see why Zuckerberg prefers to take low-risk baby steps, no matter how impatient advertisers may be.

In the meantime, brands and their social media teams should be quite happy to learn that they do have more promotional options on Instagram thanks to the newly introduced function “photos of you,” which allows users to tag any other existing account—be it a friend, a celebrity, a local business, or a big-name brand—in their own pics. Amateur lensmen and brand managers alike will receive notifications when others tag them, and they can then choose whether to display these images on their own public feeds.

Can you say “pre-approved user generated content?”

Read more

Sigh, another airline PR kerfuffle, this time involving the bare-bones Florida-based Spirit Airlines. The budget airline has decided to drop its toll-free 1-800 number and replace it with a number that will cost customers who make calls from a landline between 5 and 18 cents per minute.

To the public this move is cheap, opportunistic and completely forgettable because if you don’t have access to a cell phone somewhere—an uncle, a neighbor, even a complete stranger will lend you a phone—then you probably have bigger challenges to address than being fleeced by Spirit Airlines. (This weekend many grandmothers will be receiving iPads for Mother’s Day so they can follow their kids and grandchildren on Facebook; restricting minimal fees to landlines hardly seems exploitative unless you’re currently in jail, in which case you shouldn’t be traveling anyway.)

As PR professionals, businesspeople and capitalists, we understand that the airline industry is a tough venture. Customers want cheap prices, but the gate fees and fuel required to move those customers over state lines are very expensive. As businesses, airlines have to find some way to be profitable. So they cleverly have garnered their profits from the reliable shortcomings of human nature.

Back in the day Blockbuster raked in profits from late fees knowing that people consistently return movies past their return dates. That pronounced flaw in human nature also applies to travel, where passengers habitually make last minute plans and need to change their tickets or arrive with an extra carry-on bag. But Spirit Airlines, which has 71 different passenger fees, has taken this business strategy to another level.

So if you’re going to fly Spirit Airlines make sure you’re obsessively organized. And have a cell phone.

Finally, it’s here.

If you’ve ever been out drinking and met someone to think only moments later, “Errr, what was her name again?” your prayers have been answered. Budweiser has released its “Buddy Cup” which (as the video above explains) allows fellow imbibers to become Facebook friends just by scanning their smartphones and clinking their cups.

That’s right, as if your Facebook profile didn’t have enough friends who were strangers, now you can add fellow drinkers as you high five each other and discuss the demise flip-flops as a fashion statement. For Budweiser, this is a wise PR move because it focuses less on the product—which is experiencing some tough competition as consumers gravitate toward more local brands—and more on the social experience of drinking.

We’re just guessing that if you’re the most popular and beautiful person with a “Buddy Cup,” you can expect a long night of spilled beer. You may want to wear on old shirt or something.

After a 10-year hiatus, Johnson & Johnson is back in the brand identity game. A slew of recent recalls, law suits and bad press, have undermined J& J’s relationship with the public and the corporate juggernaut knows it’s time for some damage control. That’s why it is targeting the golden goose of emotional marketing: your family.

Even the most cynical realms of the public can’t resist the emotional pull of the love felt between a mother and her child, a grandfather and his granddaughter, a teacher and her students. It’s “Terms of Endearment” meets Benadryl to the sound of a lobotomized version of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N Roses for some dulled edge (or carefully calculated demographic appeal).

Anyone who grew up with Johnson & Johnson products—who didn’t?—has had a positive emotional connection with the brand since we were babies. From the comforting smell of baby powder to shampoo that doesn’t make you cry, we were raised by our moms and Johnson & Johnson products. Don’t underestimate the power of that deeply internalized association. It makes Facebook feel like a total disheveled stranger. Read more

Ever feel like you’re living in The Truman Show and every ad you see is geared directly at you? While we know that this is becoming more and more true with targeted online ads, it still never fails to freak me out when I am merrily going about my business, and suddenly the promoted tweet at the top of my feed is for something I desperately need at that very moment.

As a lifelong migraine-sufferer, a recent tweet from Excedrin had me looking over my shoulder for the candid camera.

Knowing I had a headache coming on, I decided to get all of my computer-related work out of the way. When I logged into Twitter, the first thing I saw was this:

Vote for “Who Deserves Excedrin the Most?” Sweepstakes on Facebook and enter to win great prizes. Rules apply. #WDETM on.fb.me/YkP8hD

— Excedrin® (@Excedrin) April 17, 2013

“Me,” I thought, “done deal.” But then, in my migraine-induced half-conscious brain fog, I began to over-analyze Excedrin’s question. Why vote for who is most deserving? Sweet merciful heaven, is there a shortage and this is their way of rationing? Or, even worse, is this some sort of Joker-style social experiment to expose the dark underbelly of our society that would label certain people undeserving of pain relief? Fortunately, it was at this point that the rational, as-of-yet-unaffected-by-migraine part of my brain told me it was time to go to bed. 

Once I had emerged from my twelve-hour headache hibernation, I decided to check out (with a clear mind) how migraines could be made into a sweepstakes. Read more

This post was co-written by the author and his wife, Stephanie Coffee. 

Horrific events that shock and captivate entire nations, superseding all other news—tragedies like the Newtown shooting and last week’s Boston Marathon terror attack—are thankfully rare. And yet, as we all know, social media and the 24/7 cable news cycle have intensified the public’s focus on these national crises and their aftermaths.

Now that the Boston case has been resolved with amazing speed by state and local authorities, we can examine the media response to last week’s events from a PR perspective.

As communications professionals, we know that the public doesn’t just demand (accurate) news as it breaks in times of crisis. They also value reassurances and statements of support from sources they follow on social media—sources that include their favorite brands.

At least one brand has already demonstrated the dangers of an inept response. So what should public entities and the people who manage their accounts do?

What NOT to do: 

• Don’t tie the event into a promotion: Epicurious (which is usually a very good food site) gave us a perfect case study on Monday with its tone-deaf promotional tweet encouraging followers to buy specific Boston-themed products. We won’t go into why it was a terrible idea because that should be painfully obvious. As another example, who can forget Kenneth Cole’s infamous Egypt uprising PR Fail?

Fast Company recently reported that Pinterest was not only one of the most visited sites in the country, but also that purchases made through the site bring in twice the revenue per order than through Facebook or Twitter. With traffic only showing signs of increasing and the site releasing free analytics tools, there has never been a better time to start using Pinterest to your advantage.

Yet, many marketing and PR pros using the platform say that just posting a pretty photo isn’t enough. For tips on how your client can start pinning with the best of them, read How to Make Pinterest Work for Your Brand.

– Nicholas Braun

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Hashtags aren’t just for tweeters anymore. Now that Vine and Facebook have announced “trending hashtag” features, every social media promo campaign must have a well-chosen hashtag, and yesterday an amusing story reminded us how important the strategy behind these tags can be. Basically, some wise guy tweeted #nowthatcherisdead to announce the passing of former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher and scared a bunch of Cher fans (calm down, everyone: she’ll be playing Vegas well into the 22nd century).

It all seems very simple, but the fact that Budweiser thought this billboard was OK only two months ago shows us that hashtagging is still a little too complicated for some:

The budweiser ” #taste is ” billboard-hashtag is such an amazing fail. Was someone drinking too many @blackcrown s? twitter.com/adland/status/…

— Adland (@adland) February 17, 2013

Half of the ads that aired during the last Super Bowl had hashtags, but that number should have been 100% because the strategy is no less important today than it was a year ago. And now it’s time to make some helpful suggestions!

Read more