🦀 Enjoy this reheated (buckle up, we’re about to talk about pizza) Silence, Brand! post from 2023 that’s still incredibly real, true, and valid from Keara Spicer.
Ellio's Pizza made waves with their X (formerly Twitter) post commemorating 9/11 with a cheesy flatbread rendition of the American flag.
This post from a frozen pizza company isn't just off-brand; it's definitively tone-deaf, inappropriate, and insensitive.
BIG YIKES.
It is unclear who the intended audience was for the post: pizza fanatics or 9/11 survivors and their families, but either way, it missed the mark. This is one instance of a brand that should stick to posts about the freezer section, snacks, and silly internet jokes.
This one should have stayed in the drafts.
While it is understandable that the social media team may not have intended to create such a backlash, this incident highlights the importance of understanding the digital landscape and being aware of what other brands have done in similar situations before posting.
Working in brand-focused social media means sometimes getting requests from management that could be in better taste. Occasionally, those requests come from leadership that aren't even on social media themselves.
As a social media manager, I empathize with the challenges of balancing management requests with the need to maintain the brand's reputation and avoid negative sentiment, especially when those requests are sincere.
There are benefits to being chronically online and engaged with online communities. This post from Ellio’s Pizza is the marker of inexperience and a deficit of historical internet knowledge.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of social media managers to stay connected to the current digital landscape on behalf of their brand and be aware of how their content will resonate with their audience.
SMMs are incredibly knowledgeable about how the general public perceives their brand, as they are on the front lines monitoring reception and sentiment in real-time on their designated social media platforms.
If you think something might be offensive, it probably is. - Keara Spicer
Silence, Brand! is an internet culture and marketing newsletter compiled by unhinged brand marketing professionals—an elite army of internet idiots.
Got an idea and you wanna yap?
Send us a LinkedIn message or something, idk
To receive bi-weekly internet roundups from Silence, Brand! please subscribe [IT’S FREE] 🦀