Social Media Campaign Review – Scarlett Engineer
- Social Media
#McDStories – Not Everyone Was Lovin’ It
There has been plenty of social media campaigns, both innovative and disastrous – I have decided to go with the latter and present the award for #WorldsWorstHashtagger to McDonald’s. (No surprise they aren’t with us today to collect their award!)
McDonalds’ initial objectives for the campaign:
1. McDonald’s created the hashtag #McDStories hoping to get it trending with McDonalds food lovers and their great experiences from eating at the fast food chain
2. They hoped to focus on the quality of ingredients and to introduce the farmers behind the produce with the hashtag #MeetTheFarmers
3. To engage first hand with their market via social media
How they executed the campaign:
On 18 January, McDonald’s sent out two tweets bearing the hashtag #McDStories in an attempt to highlight the hard working people behind the fast food chain
Although, McDonald’s only used the hashtag twice, their campaign backfired, other Twitter users hi jacked the hashtag and used it to tell personal negative stories from their visits to the “Golden Arches”
Results:
The McDonald’s hashtag was hi jacked and tweets evolved from unsatisfied customers who spoke in anger about food poisoning incidents and items found in their meals (is it bad to admit I had a McDonald’s this weekend and loved it – #NothingStrangeInMyNuggetsThankGod)
McDonald’s were forced to pull the campaign and within an hour of them doing so, the number of tweets about the topic fell from a peak of 1600 to a few dozen
Rick Wion, Social Media Director for McDonald’s delivered a statement saying: “As Twitter continues to evolve its platform and engagement opportunities, we’re learning from our experiences.”
The campaign is now widely known as #McFail
“I remember spitting out a chicken nugget after finding a chicken nail inside the mechanically separated chicken #McDstories”
“So PETA and McDonald’s got into it today on Twitter. I was surprised. I didn’t know there was actual meat at McDonald’s. #McDStories”
Shortly after the epic fail of #McDStories, McDonald’s created the #LittleThings intending to create conversation about little things which bring you joy…..although not as widely slated as McDStories, the latest hashtag still has potential to create negative conversation on the brand….
#WhenWillMcDonaldsLearn #McDonaldsNotTheBestHashtaggers