DiGiorno Accidentally Uses Domestic Violence as a Platform to Sell Pizza
The social media world learned an important lesson last week thanks to DiGiorno pizza: always check your hashtags. When the video of NFL running back Ray Rice assaulting his wife in an elevator surfaced, many took to Twitter to express their empathy for Janay Palmer, offering their own abuse stories using the hashtag #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft
Many companies including CoverGirl, an official sponsor of the NFL, used Twitter and the trending hashtags to engage in the discussion and condemn domestic violence. But DiGiorno, a pre-frozen pizza and dinner company, used the hashtag to advertise their product.
As you can imagine, DiGiorno received tons of backlash and angry messages for the inappropriate tweet. DiGiono’s social media manager admitted to not researching The Anchor before posting and spent the duration of the night apologizing to every user who sent an angry message. Using tragedies and emotionally charged current events to promote a brand, whether intentional or not, only causes PR nightmares and makes the brand look insensitive. Learn from DiGiorno’s mistakes and make sure you know why a hashtag is trending before you use it!
***Blog post written by Intern, Noelle Tremmel