Social media marketers should know by now that deleting of comments, especially negative ones, is a cardinal sin that will forever go into Google infamy. Chapstick, an American lip gloss, however, decided to test it out with fans - deleting negative comments about an awful advertisement which focuses a woman's other lips.
Wrote Adweek,
Blogger tries to reply on Facebook too. ChapStick deletes her comments. Others object to the image. ChapStick deletes their comments. ChapStick's ads with the line "Be heard at Facebook.com/ChapStick" start to look foolish. People keep commenting. ChapStick keeps deleting. People get angry. ChapStick gets worried. The image isn't even that big of a deal—it's ChapStick's reaction to the criticism that galls. "What asses," people say of ChapStick (get it?). People start commenting about why they can't see their old comments. ChapStick can't keep up with all the deleting. Comments are getting through, and they're nasty.
Chapstick has since deleted the ad from the web site and apologised to their fans.
The irony of this was that the campaign tagline was "Be heard at Facebook.com/Chapstick" but of course Chapstick only listens to the good things.
The deletion of negative comments is like saying "no comments" as if there is something to hide.
If Chapstick took the image earlier before deleting the comments, it would have avoided ending in bin of failed social media campaigns.
Singapore blog-o-sphere was also recently up in arms against a TV advertisement that portrayed a fat woman being a loser because of her weight and weight lost being the solution.
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