Rihanna tells fans to ditch Snapchat
Rihanna slammed Snapchat after a distasteful ad for a mobile game was advertised through the app called, "Would you Rather," asking users if they would rather slap Rihanna or punch her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. Considering they had a pretty popular domestic violence dispute in 2008 this obviously didn't sit well with the pop singer. After blasting Snapchat on her Twitter account, about $800 million of Snap's market value was erased. "“This advertisement is disgusting and never should have appeared on our service,” a spokesperson said. The company has blocked the advertiser from its platform and is investigating how the ad made it through the approval process." But clearly the damage has already been done.
However, this isn't the only instance of a celeb endorsement gone wrong. In February, Kylie Jenner tweeted that she simply doesn't use the app anymore and shares fell 6.1%. This is $1.3 billion in market value totally wiped out.
In relation to our class this should teach us all a lesson. Social media is a double edged sword. We can use it for growth, and attention which is great. Keeping track of page traffic, and even hiring social media influencers. However, word spreads through these things like wildfire so one mistake could lead to the downfall of your company.
https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2018/03/15/rihanna-tells-fans-to-throw-the-snapchat-app-away-shares-fall/
More and more frequently, Firm ethics are becoming more important to consumers; additionally, consumers are becoming increasingly persuaded by their favorite influencers' views on these Firms' policies, ethics, values, etc rather than only whether or not these celebrities feel their products are fun or fashionable. Companies should become more aware of how their buyers will feel about current events and ethical issues as different scandals and misdoings arise but today, this job is harder than ever as a result of user’s undying devotion to follow a celebrity opinion.
ReplyDeleteWhile Snapchat is ultimately dealing with the consequences of the negative backlash, celebrities are not off limits either to hear critique from fans. When companies feature celebrities to endorse a product in commercials that are tone deaf like the Pepsi ad Kendall Jenner was in during 2017, Jenner was judged for even considering being in such a commercial. Her response to this was to offer an apology for not realizing the gravity of the situation, and how it would offend.
Ultimately, the results are always the same: the company or super star apologizes, citing that they should have known better, or that these aren’t their views but another company’s. It is always the same hot potato game of passing the blame to another to try and keep customers satisfied. While Chris Brown has had trouble rebuilding his career after the scandal with Rihanna 10 years ago, usually stars and companies issue their apologies and move on. No one is held accountable any more in the long run.
It is crazy how one person (although famous) has enough influence to change the popularity dynamic for a company. Despite their tacky "Rihanna/ CB" flashback, Snapchat was eventually going to die out just like Vine and Myspace. I don't even use it anymore except for the camera and filters. Instastories and Facbook Live are slowly eating Snapchat alive.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Roxanne, the difference one celebrity makes on the society opinions over topics such as the one discussed is astonishing. Honestly, people have gotten to the point where they do not even follow what they themselves really agree with, enjoy doing or like in general. What I mean is, what I mean is that everyone is so obsessed with what the famous people are doing, and trying to be like them, when they should not be worried about trying to be like someone else. We should be worried about finding ourselves and not what Rihanna thinks about Snapchat.
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