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Nestle debacle reveals ‘dark side’ of Facebook fan pages
March 22, 2010
Food giant Nestle finds itself embroiled in the latest social-media-meets-PR disaster. As CNET reports, the multinational company was recently pelted by a Facebook- and Twitter-based “twitstorm” after the operators of Nestle’s Facebook page made hostile responses to critics. Greenpeace, the environmental activist group, has long been pressuring Nestle to stop using palm oil, the production of which it says causes deforestation, greenhouse-gas emissions, and the loss of endangered species.
Greenpeace was already encouraging its supporters to change the photos on their Facebook profiles to anti-Nestle slogans that often incorporated the company’s food logos, but the Greenpeace supporters then started posting en masse to the Nestle fan page on Facebook. As CNET reports, Nestle countered with a mild threat: “To repeat: we welcome your comments, but please don’t post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic — they will be deleted.” A Nestle rep intensified the attacks when he responded to critics by writing sarcastic comments on the Facebook thread.
The rep later apologized for snapping back, but the Nestle episode revealed the dark side of the Facebook fan page, CNET writes. Originally intended as an open forum for fans to show their support, the page instead became a critics’ billboard, with a company representative panicking over how to tame the mob. Facebook pages are still one of the hottest digital marketing tools out there, but the Nestle debacle demonstrates the downsides of operating such a public forum for consumer comments. — Greg Beaubien
Comments
Derek DeVries says:
No one gets to pick and choose what they use social media for; you're either present (to accept the good and the bad) or you're not (in which case the good and bad go on anyway without your involvement).
Brooks Cooper says:
Derek, I could not agree more. The problem lies in whether or not Nestle wants to engage with the world on a public forum. In my opinion there are far more benefits from engaging with your fans and opponents than to be absent from the conversation. They must realize that we are moving into (if not already there) a world that wants more conversation, says it best-
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