#PRNightmare Girl Scouts Social Media Backfires
The Girl Scouts are using social media sites to promote cookie sales with very good intentions. However being that it’s social media, conversations that emerge aren’t always what a company intends. Activists are using their Facebook wall to voice strong opinions about the use of palm oil in cookies.
The benefits of engaging in conversation on social media far outweigh the downside. The important thing to remember is that it’s a conversation. You must be prepared to engage on topics, both positive and negative.
“Two rogue scouts from Michigan have started a mini revolution online, demanding that [Girl Scouts] CEO Kathy Cloninger stop the use of palm oil. Cloninger has thus far ignored requests to meet with the girls and has not issued a statement about the controversy.
Cloninger did her girls another disservice by not facing the fire right away and hopping on her social networks to talk about the palm oil drama. Not employing our social media resources in times of crisis to talk to our customers is just silly — and Cloninger’s mistake can be our valuable lesson.”
Good thing Samoas are off the Point-Bl_nk diet, because its hard to deny them!
