A Crisis That Will Give You a Headache

In the post below, I mentioned the new wired communications environment. It's not only anonymous, but instant. The Motrin-bashing debacle is a good case in point, and a valuable lesson about how communication works in a wired world.

Last Saturday, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a Johnson & Johnson company that makes Motrin, posted an ad on the company's website. The video targets moms suffering from backaches due to wearing their babies in slings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO6SlTUBA38). “Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion. I mean, in theory, it’s a great idea.... Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom. And so if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.” As an old dad, I find nothing offensive about this, which is why we need focus groups before we launch ads and key messages.

But plenty of new moms were offended. Shortly after the ad was posted, they activated an entire mommy network via Twitter (You'll get the gist here if you have the time and patience: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23MotrinMoms). Jessica Gottlieb, freelance writer and mom, wrote on her blog, "...you are going to be furious, and I think we all know that a pissed off group of Mommies is (and should be) terrifying." Johnson & Johnson, who owns McNeil, understands that fact now.

With the internet and IM lit up all weekend bashing Motrin, the company pulled the ad by Sunday night and apologized (http://www.motrin.com/). Kathy Widmer, vice president of marketing for McNeil, wrote on the Motrin web site Thursday, " So…it’s been almost 4 days since I apologized here for our Motrin advertising. What an unbelievable 4 days it’s been. Believe me when I say we’ve been taking our own headache medicine here lately! Btw - if you’re confused by this - we removed our Motrin ad campaign from the marketplace on Sunday because we realized through your feedback that we had missed the mark and insulted many moms.... In the end, we have been reminded of age-old lessons that are tried and true: When you make a mistake - own up to it, and say you’re sorry. Learn from that mistake."

It remains to be seen how much long-term damage to Motrin’s brand and to Johnson & Johnson’s stock price will be. The company responded to the crisis swiftly and appropriately. But a couple of focus groups might have prevented the whole thing. Guys like me can't always anticipate the wrath of young mothers to messages that, to my demographic, may seem innocuous. Another key lesson here is how quickly a negative story can grow and spread in today's wired world. Communications is instantaneous, as businesses seem to find out the hard way every day -- even on weekends, as the Motrin case illustrates.