Dive summary:
- After a posting a highly controversial video, Mountain Dew is using a promoted Tweet to apologize for the mistake.
- Some marketing professionals chimed in on whether using a promoted Tweet was a good move; some thought Mountain Dew made the right choice by proving they are "taking the blame and—literally—paying the price."
- Other marketing experts are skeptical that Mountain Dew is just using the promoted Tweet as an apology, but that rather the brand is using the ad for more publicity by drawing attention to itself again.
Hey guys - made a big mistake we've removed the offensive video from all our channels. #fail
— Mountain Dew® (@mtn_dew) May 1, 2013
From the article:
"Buying ads for the apology 'is not a smart thing to do unless they are just asking for more publicity,' Boykiv said. 'Why in the world of the 24-hour news cycle would you want to bring more attention to the issue that caused so much stir in media—and also pay for it?'
The marketing exec said Mountain Dew's Twitter ads run in stark contrast to other recent ad-related fiascos, such as Hyundai and Ford. '[They] apologized and moved on,' he said. 'One would think that after rookie mistake 101, Mountain Dew is making a rookie mistake 102. But, I believe, it is just a trick to gain more publicity among young target audience rather than clean the act.'"