Whoever handles the twitter account for Durex SA caused a PR nightmare for the brand yesterday after they tweeted a hugely inappropriate, sexist joke and proceeded to makes things worse with their sloppy handling of the public outcry which ensued. Read all about it HERE and HERE.
This is a message to the brand from Dan Nash of Bangers and Nash and Mike Sharman of RetroViral, two people who do know a thing or ten about Online Reputation Management.
It must be noted that Durex SA tweeted an apology today saying,”As a brand respected by millions, we wld like 2 take this opportunity 2 apologize 4 the jokes posted on our timeline yesterday.”
Your thoughts?
10 Comments
Kak brand! Durex is a load of wank!
It may have been a PR fail, but they went from 300 odd followers to 2000 odd.
Social media no fun at all these days… Clearly Durex was joking and basically they got gang raped, sure South Africa has a high incident of rape etc. but it seems we have an even higher incident of people with a stick up their ass. More important things to deal with like actual abuse of woman and men etc. than bitching about some brands kak tweets. Durex may be used primarily to be put on dicks, but it’s the people bitching who are really wankers. Jou ma se online reputation ek se
S.A needs to get a sense of humour. Instead of people getting worked up of this we should put our efforts into getting rid of this bullshit ANC
well said Debbie
South Africans have a sense of humour, we’re about the only ones who do. What their brands lack is an understanding of their audience. Sure, there were some intense remarks directed at the account (the reason why people are standing up for DurexSA) but that does not change the fact that when it comes to speaking to their customers, DurexSA don’t know shit from shinola.
It seems whoever handles that account got their cronies to respond here. To shut anybody up with a penis is fine as a joke if you’re just telling your mates but you wouldnt tell it to your mother or a rape victim. people forget that the internet isnt just your pals, it’s the world. so it’s fair when people get upset. Durex has had some amazingly clever ads that have actual insights. this was just a Twitter filler with no thought.
I followed the timeline as it happened, and what struck me was not the one allegedly pro-rape joke, but the string of tiresome “take my wife… please” sexist jokes that went out of fashion in the 1970s. That along with the gratuitous picture of a woman in a bikini on their twitter page made me think: unless a sexual encounter involves two men, there is a high likelihood there is a woman involved, and an extremely high likelihood she will have bought the condoms. Alienating potentially 50% of your target market is just plain stupid. Also, Durex, save up and pay someone who can punctuate, spell and write complete sentences so your brand doesn’t look illiterate as well as sexist and stupid.
lovers plus is where its at
Love the graphic, had such a good laugh when I saw it. Thank you for the link back to my article, I appreciate it.
PS. The Tabindex on your comment form is out of sync