ADVERTISING/P.R.

FAILURES AND RECOVERIES

CREATED BY: JOSHUA RENFRO

MCDONALDS HAPPY
McDonald's new mascot
Released May 2014 in USA
Kids were scared, People hated it
Twitter users went crazy with
memes

MCDONALDS RESPONSE
Acknowledged the criticism and played off
of it

Social media is a great place to have a

conversation and express an opinion, but
not all comments reflect the broader view.
-McDonalds Twitter

McDonald's kept on promoting a friendly

Happy

People eventually accepted Happy

WALMART MAKES AN ISIS CAKE

Occurred June 2015
A Louisiana man requested a cake
with a Confederate flag on it
Walmart denied it.

He went back to the same

Walmart to see if he could get ISIS
flag on a cake Walmart made it.

He made a video about the ordeal

and posted it online. Video went
viral

Video has 992,958 views

WALMART'S RESPONSE

"An associate in a local store did not know what the design meant and made a
mistake. The cake should not have been made and we apologize. -Walmart

Its unfortunate one customer thought to take advantage of an associate who did
not know the flag and its meaning. -Walmart spokesperson to USA Today

URBAN OUTFITTERS HOLOCAUST

TAPESTRY
February 2015
The company started selling a
gray-and-white-striped tapestry
that the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) says is eerily reminiscent
of a Holocaust garb that gay male
prisoners were forced to wear in
Nazi concentration camps.

URBAN OUTFITTERS RESPONSE

They removed the product from their
website

President and CEO Richard A. Hayne

objected to the "insensitive design and
the company's periodic use of products
within the realm of Holocaust imagery.

No other comments were made.

(This is not the first controversial item
that U.O. has made.)

KRISPY KREMES KKK EVENT

February 2015, U.K.
Promotional ad for events at
a location

Posted on Facebook page

KKK Krispy Kreme Klub

KRISPY KREMES RESPONSE

Post was removed from Facebook and all
promotional materials were removed from the
store

"We are truly sorry for any inconvenience or

offense this misstep may have caused our fans.

Company said they will be "taking greater

precautions with their publicity materials in the
future.

Internal investigation was launched but nothing big

came from it

LEARN FROM THE PAST

Its important to learn from these failures and recoveries

Analyze what worked best, what didnt work

Pay attention to detail at all levels
Monitor whats being said about your company/business
(Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc.) (Hootsuite,
SocialMention.com)

Keep up with whats trending and understand why its

trending

WORKS CITED

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/mcdonalds-new-happy-meal-ambassador
-just-might-eat-your-children-157851

http://time.com/111277/why-mcdonalds-is-loving-the-creepy-new-masc
ot-everybodys-bashing/

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/13-biggest-brand-fails-2014-161978
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/walmart-apologizes-making-isis-cake
-man-denied-confederate/story?id=32103721

http://time.com/3703768/urban-outfitters-tapestry-holocaust/
http://www.businessinsider.com/anti-defamation-league-calls-on-urban-o
utfitters-to-stop-selling-holocaust-garb-2015-2

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/02/17/krispy-kr