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Warning: that "viral" apology from the coffee chain was scripted months ago
I was at a local roaster in Portland last week and overheard two marketing guys talking. They were laughing about how their planned "crisis" video for the burnt-batch scandal was already filmed back in April, just waiting for the right moment. They said the whole thing was a stunt to boost app downloads, and the numbers apparently jumped 30 percent overnight. Has anyone else spotted a brand fake a scandal just for attention, or are we all just too cynical now?
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kaid5927d ago
My buddy ran a small bakery that got slammed by a fake health inspection video online, and instead of fighting it, we leaned in with a silly "we got roasted" meme post that tripled their foot traffic in a week. @alicecooper, totally get your point, but sometimes the payoff is about engagement, not just sales, and that 30 percent jump sounds exactly like what a bored marketing team would brag about over beers.
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Thats a pretty wild story but I gotta call it like I see it. Most places I know in the coffee game are barely staying afloat, let alone hiring marketing guys to fake a scandal months ahead of time. The logistics alone sound off, like who pays for all that wasted footage if the burn never happens or the public doesnt bite. Also 30 percent jump in downloads overnight sounds like a lucky break not a planned play, cause people are way too quick to call out fake stuff these days. Maybe those guys were just talking big to sound important, happens all the time in Portland. Im not saying brands are saints, but faking a whole crisis just feels like too much risk for too little payoff when a simple good ad could do the same job.
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