Advertising on a new social medium can always be tricky, especially with an avid community that isn’t crazy about said advertising initiative.
Case in point, McDonald’s attempted to launch a new program on Instagram in the hopes of promoting its new Bacon Clubhouse burger. The campaign features several ads with people posing with the food, in an attempt to try and garner the attention of smartphone-carrying audiences.
Unfortunately, the program was met with harsh criticism from a number of users, who posted a variety of negative messages in accordance with the ads. Such replies include, “Haha, this is so gross I got diabetes just looking at this,” “I wonder how much McD paid Instagram for this ad” and “McDonald’s sucks! Boooooo”.
“While we are unable to provide specific details about our media strategies, we are always looking to engage with our guests and fans in fun and relevant ways in social media. Instagram allows us to share compelling and entertaining photos about our brand, food and more in unexpected and innovative ways,” said David Martinelli, digital marketing manager at McDonald’s.
One ad appeared earlier this week, at first garnering 45,347 “likes” but then receiving a number of negative comments, with nearly 2,000 in all.
This follows McDonald’s previous attempts to do social advertising with the World Cup, when it attempted to mimic a French fry blocking a ball from going into a goal. As with this campaign, it was met with a lot of negative commentary.
It’s unknown whether this backlash could have an effect on the Instagram app, which is reportedly set to earn $100 million on a quarterly basis, depending on its photo-based promos for marketers. Maybe the market isn’t ready for fast-food advertisers as of yet, instead sticking with more casual brands that catch on better with the website’s community.
For now, though, the ads continue to be on the site, and, of course, the comments are following.
Do you think McDonald’s ads are a key fit for the site? Or are they just making you hungry?
Source: Adweek
