Shut up, Dunkin’ Donuts. Didn’t you hear about last night’s shooting?

It’s Friday – hooray, another work week is (almost) behind us!

Dunkin’ Donuts, with its 6.7M+ member Facebook following, wishes to take part in the excitement universal to 9-to-5ers everywhere. They craft this cute (maybe corny) mobile upload:

What’s their intent?

To trigger a fleeting smile with the slim portion of followers that, as part of their morning routine with social media, happen to scroll passed the image.

Barely even a soft-sell, the picture is a hardly salient marketing tactic designed to simply reinforce brand appreciation among followers.

What do they get?

Backlash.

Should a global coffee chain be expected to lead the charge of mourning over an isolated incident?

Absolutely not.

Why do certain people idiots feel compelled to attack brands when they carry on with business as usual?

Perhaps it’s because as a marketing channel, social media affords brands unprecedented flexibility. Unlike traditional print/TV ads that are planned, shot and submitted days/weeks in advance, social media messages can be altered up to a moment’s notice.

And we get it – as you scroll through a newsfeed comprised primarily of friends and family’s expressions of shock/reposts of the news article – a smile devised from boxes of DD merchandise may feel a bit callous and out of place.

But don’t tell me you subscribed to a global franchise that earns its keep slinging donuts so you could hear their take current events.

The only groups that should “care” and subsequently adjust their social media campaigns are:

• Colorado-based businesses (because it’s “home”) 
• Anti-Violence / relevant cause-based organizations (because it reinforces their missions) 
• The Dark Knight Rises franchise and its public-facing financiers (because the incident directly involved their brand)

People need to stop levying the expectation of raw human emotion onto a brand.

Target experienced similar upheaval (although it seems here others share my frustration and realistic approach to the matter).

A retailer’s mission within the confines of social media is to solely promote/communicate news around the brand. They cannot be expected to suspend promotional efforts every time something bad happens in this world.

To my opposition, I ask: do you intend to spend the entire day in a somber state of mourning? Will you not crack a smile the whole weekend through?

Why would you levy a similar expectation upon your favorite coffee chain?

Conversely, wouldn’t you rather have them there to lift your spirit and take your mind off things?

::blogger steps down from his soapbox::

Just Because it Tweets Like a Duck...

I mean, what is this!?

I realize that for consumer brands social media is all about invoking meaningful engagement with customers; that it should be conversational and not 100% promotional.

But to carry on as if you’re just another (human) connection reaching out for compassion and relate-ability?

How can a business have a case of the Mondays?!

I could see validation in this tweet if it were posted by a small, single-unit shop – a hair salon, for example.

Picture a staff of 5-10 stylists and manicurists who, through the process of early morning chit chat, come to agree they all feel a bit sluggish. THAT type of situation might warrant such a tweet (and even then, should STILL coincide with a promo):

Are we to assume that McDonald’s first distributed a corporate email to vet their claim?

That a majority of their team (HQ and restaurant staff a like) agreed to having a “case of the Mondays?”

As a socially connected patron, should I be prepared for compromised customer service or food quality because of this corporate-wide “off” day?

If I roll up to the drive thru and express empathy will the order-taker appreciate the sentiment or go on the defense and snap at me?

I’m being a bit ridiculous, I realize – but hey – a bit of satire does the body good.

Besides, the basis of my argument is true.

Do this (not that):

First, let me just say that I love how Dunkin’ Donuts uses the “DD” any chance they get, parlaying brand elements into the conversation.

More importantly, instead of expressing synthetic emotion and asking open-ended and ultra-vague questions about their patrons’ weekends, this tweet opts to engage (and soft-sell) followers with multimedia content.

DD doesn’t pretend to be just another human tweeter in your feed, but a conduit for sharing the brand experiences of other human tweeters.

Why doesn't Ronald tweet?

Just a thought, but if McDonald's wants to tweet in a one-to-one fashion, why not employ one of their beloved characters as the "author?" I'd talk to Grimace or the Hamburglar!

I realize Ronald has taken a bit of a backseat role in branding at McDonald's, but "chatting" with a character would feel more real than doing the same with a corporate logo.

I don’t mean to pick on McDonald’s.

In truth, both companies post some pretty lame tweets now and again.

As Social media continues to evolve within the marketing mixes of B2B and B2C brands alike, striking the right balance between pushing business and sharing experiences remains TBD.

Both McDonald’s and Dunkin’ seem to be at the forefront of what’s right (most of the time).

Maybe the joke is on me.

While I maintain that the “case of the Mondays” tweet undermines the intelligence of the McDonald’s fan base, it appears it got great traction:

 

Retweets, Favorites and Replies (not included).
Who are the users engaged by this type of drivel?!

Perhaps my gripe is with them… ;)