Soda Sabotage

Last month, Coke was forced to pull their #MakeItHappy social media campaign.  It was an unexpected (for Coke) situation that could have been avoided if it wasn’t for the fact that the campaign’s algorithm went off the rails with some help from Gawker.

Taking this back to the beginning, Coke decided it wanted to make the internet a more positive place and so they had an algorithm developed that would take tweets tagged with the #MakeItHappy hashtag on Twitter and turn them into positive digital pictures supporting the new positive energy courtesy of Coke.  It was then predicted that tweeple would retweet the new, improved, positive messages that now had positive images attached to them.

On the surface, this sounds like a fantastic campaign even if no real person was going to monitor the tweets that passed by way of Coke’s account and bright, shiny polishing bot!

Gawker saw an opportunity to derail the campaign by creating its own Twitter bot named @MeinCoke.  As with the Coke campaign, they tagged their tweets with #MakeItHappy which triggered Coke’s Twitter bot to do its magic and generate cute pictures to go with the hashtag comments.  The problem was that Gawker was taking quotes from Adolph Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”

The campaign was suspended but not without a statement issued by Coke that read:

Building a bot that attempts to spread hate through #MakeItHappy is a perfect example of the pervasive online negativity Coca-Cola wanted to address with this campaign.

That’s all fine and dandy were it not for the fact that Coke seems to have missed an important lesson:  Nothing can replace the human touch.  In other words, if a living, breathing human being had been in charge, the bot-generated comments would most likely been caught before they were processed and put through.  Bottom line?  White supremacist ASCII art stood a worse chance of being caught be a real person then it’s more likely than not that this situation never would have happened.

While most everyone is busy wagging a finger at Gawker, they seem to be overlooking the fact that Coke didn’t consider all the possibilities about what could conceivably go wrong with their campaign.  This is why we, as entrepreneurs and small business owners, need to keep an eye on our social media accounts to make sure that the message that’s being sent out on our behalf is actually what we intended to see put out there!

Elyse Bruce

 

SUGGESTED READING

Coca-Cola Pulls Twitter Campaign After It Was Tricked Into Quoting Mein Kampf
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/05/coca-cola-makeithappy-gakwer-mein-coke-hitler

Coke’s Automated #MakeItHappy Twitter Promotion Runs Into Trouble
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18059.aspx

Coke Tweets Inspirational Hitler Art, Isn’t Actually That Into “Mein Kampf”
http://www.fastcompany.com/3042007/coke-tweets-inspirational-hitler-art-isnt-actually-that-into-mein-kampf

Coca Cola Pulls Twitter Campaign After Hitler Related Sabotage
http://kfor.com/2015/02/05/coca-cola-pulls-twitter-campaign-after-hitler-related-sabotage/

 

Who Said That?

The graduates of McGill University who finished their degrees after World War II ended are the great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents of those who are graduating from university and college over 65 years later.  The quotes beside each graduates’ name speaks volumes of how they interpreted the world around them.  Since most of the quotes fail to acknowledge the author of the quote, I thought it would be fun to see how many of these quotes are recognized by those who follow or visit my blog.  Today’s quote is this:

Let shame be short or life will be too long.

Feel free to add the name of who you believe was — or may have been — the person who first spoke or first wrote those words, in the Comments Section below.

Life Is Like A Garden

A celebrity passed away last week.  His name was Leonard Nimoy.

Many people remember his as Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, but he was more than just one character: He was a man of character.

Now I won’t pretend that I knew him, but I did attend one of his book tour lectures when I was a young teen.  His presentation was interesting and while it was meant to promote his book “I Am Not Spock” it was a much more encompassing presentation.  While many die-hard Star Trek fans saw his book as a fan-offending autobiography, it was actually a revelation about who the author as an individual was.

Over the years, he wrote and published seven books of poetry.  Of course, one of the more obscure projects was the comic book series, “Primortal” which was published by Tekno-Comix from 1995 to 1997.

Few people realize that he was the director of “Three Men and a Baby.”  The video for the Bangle’s video for their song “Going Down To Liverpool” was also directed by Leonard Nimoy.

He was a recognized professional photographer who specialized in black-and-white images.  His works were displayed in countless museums and art galleries.  He had an interest in the paranormal and the unusual which led to being the host of the television series, “In Search Of …”

Not too many people know that he served in the United States Army from December 3, 1953 to November 23, 1955, having risen to the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG).   Even fewer people know that after the original Star Trek series ended, he opened an exotic pet shop in California.  But he never completely stepped away from being a retailer as he and his granddaughter ran an online shop.  It originally began as “Secret Selves” on Etsy in 2010 and grew into ShopLLAP.

In a nutshell, now it’s easy for people to see that Leonard Nimoy was so much more than Mr. Spock.

Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield — as did so many others — expressed on social media the effect Leonard Nimoy’s death had on him.  And there was a genuine outpouring of emotion from colleagues, fans, and strangers alike.

I didn’t know the man personally and yet, there’s a loss in my life as Leonard Nimoy has shuffled off this mortal coil.  But even with loss, there is something gained.  And so, my dear friends, I will end this entry with these words of wisdom from a man who understood them so very well.

Who Said That?

The graduates of McGill University who finished their degrees after World War II ended are the great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents of those who are graduating from university and college over 65 years later.  The quotes beside each graduates’ name speaks volumes of how they interpreted the world around them.  Since most of the quotes fail to acknowledge the author of the quote, I thought it would be fun to see how many of these quotes are recognized by those who follow or visit my blog.  Today’s quote is this:

A star looks down at me and says, ‘Here I and you stand each in our degree.’

Feel free to add the name of who you believe was — or may have been — the person who first spoke or first wrote those words, in the Comments Section below.

Details About Nathan Lane Covington

People often ask me questions about Nathan Lane Covington from “End Of The Innocence” and “I Will Not Go Quietly.”  I’ve just started on the early stages of the final book in the trilogy, “You Don’t Know Me At All.”  To give fans a quick overview, I’ve created this infographic that you’re more than welcome to share on all your social media.  Check it out!

Who Said That?

The graduates of McGill University who finished their degrees after World War II ended are the great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents of those who are graduating from university and college over 65 years later.  The quotes beside each graduates’ name speaks volumes of how they interpreted the world around them.  Since most of the quotes fail to acknowledge the author of the quote, I thought it would be fun to see how many of these quotes are recognized by those who follow or visit my blog.  Today’s quote is this:

Time flies so fast, be merry I advise.

Feel free to add the name of who you believe was — or may have been — the person who first spoke or first wrote those words, in the Comments Section below.

Rose Glen Literary Festival Time Is Here

One of the best literary festivals in the Appalachia region is held at the end of February every year in Sevierville, Tennessee.  Authors clamor to secure a booth at this annual event organized by Sevier County historian, Carroll McMahan.  Between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM, the Sevierville Convention Center located at 202 Gists Creek Road will host the event, and is FREE to the public (the luncheon, of course, costs $20 per person).

East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame (Class of 2009) and Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame (Class of 2014) author Sam Venable has the lead slot with his workshop, “How to Talk and Rite Good” and other workshop presenters include director/producer Bill Landry, writer/illustrator/photographer Stephen Lyn Bales, award-winning journalist Will Harlan, Mark Maden, and Renea Winchester.   The keynote speakers at the event are Wendy Welch and Jack Beck.

As I approach a milestone in my literary career (my book “Nick Nack Paddywhack” will mark my twentieth published book), I’m looking forward to participating in this festival and meeting fans in person.  In the booth next to me, fans can meet author Thomas D. Taylor, and acquaint themselves with his books.  And yes, both of us will be signing books at this event.

Pencil in some time on Saturday, February 28 between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM to take a peek at my new book titles, ask questions about the characters including the inimitable Missy Barrett, and more!