It was an SNL skit that wrote itself. Australian breakdancer Raygun was thoroughly lampooned for her amateur performance at the 2024 Summer Games, called a disgrace to her country, and criticized for “making a mockery” of the sport. She went viral in all the ways a person or company doesn’t want to go viral. The athlete, Australia, and the sport of breakdancing are likely to continue to experience the aftershocks of this unintentional brand harm for some time.
But this is far from the first case of negative attention that comes from somebody misusing or misrepresenting a brand.
Remember the Tide Pod Challenge? When bored/dumb teens, fueled by social media bravado, pressured one another to consume chemical cleaning agents? Tide and parent company Procter & Gamble were the collateral damage, called out on the carpet for merely having their product exist. Decades prior, Johnson & Johnson faced intense scrutiny when it was discovered that Tylenol bottles in the Chicago area had been tampered with and contaminated with cyanide after production, leading to several poisoning fatalities.
You can’t control what people will do with your brand. How they represent it (locally or on an international stage). How they misuse your product (to encourage others to act irresponsibly). Or how they seek to harm it (and others). But you can control your business’ reactions and statements, and take steps to reclaim consumer trust, regain positive public perception, and spin the bad into the good.
Let’s take a look at what Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson did right in the wake of their respective crises. Australia and breakdancing, take note:
Procter & Gamble first addressed the product itself: they immediately began coating Tide Pods with a bitter agent to deter ingestion and added warning disclaimers to their product materials. Then they ran a social media campaign featuring popular influencers who provided a clear explanation of the dangers of misusing Tide Pods. It was done in an informative yet tongue-in-cheek way which garnered positive reaction. They also worked with social media companies to pull down the viral Tide Pod Challenge videos. These efforts helped the company (1) demonstrate their concern for how product misuse could lead to bodily harm, (2) reinforce the correct usage (and benefits) of their product, and (3) eliminate further attention to the crisis by scraping evidence of it off the web.
Johnson & Johnson also made a positive spin out of their devastating and scary crisis. They responded by immediately recalling 31 million bottles of Tylenol. They then developed, in short order, a sophisticated tamper-evident seal – a visible indicator of whether a bottle had been tampered with – which has become an industry-leading design in heavy use today. They publicized their efforts, showcasing the improved safety measures, and returned their product back to shelves.
What do these companies have in common when analyzing their crisis responses? They acted with speed. They took immediate actions to make their products and packaging safer for consumers who may be tempted to misuse them. They communicated their concern for those impacted and the seriousness in which they were addressing the crises. They reinforced the correct usage and safety of their products. And they showed absolute transparency, clarity, credibility, and empathy every step of the way.
And how did they fare, several years out from these crippling crises? Johnson & Johnson was recently ranked by Fortune as the #1 pharmaceutical industry company among the world’s top 50 most admired companies, for the tenth consecutive year. It also remains the world’s most successful healthcare company, with a brand value of more than $12 billion. The Tylenol product line continues to be a sales leader. Procter & Gamble was also named #1 in its industry category in the same index for the fifth year running, and Tide remains the nation’s top-selling detergent. How is that for a bounce back?
Here is a quick exercise you can run at your next team huddle or monthly all-hands meeting, to help test if your organization is prepared to manage a crisis like this should it land on your doorstep:
Discussion Questions:
- What would you do if somebody misused or misrepresented your business, service, or product?
- What would you do, or do differently, if this misuse was going viral on social media?
- What could your business do today to help prepare for a crisis caused by a consumer or brand representative? A brand partner?
Kith facilitates crisis preparedness workshops that will help your company attain the clarity, trust, and speed you need to respond confidently – no dithering! – to any crisis. We’d be happy to have a conversation about how we can help your company be ready to char
