Kellogg's Frosted Political Opinions… They're great! https://t.co/0LH5VaGq3v
— Jim Antle (@jimantle) March 16, 2017
So, that McDonald’s tweet about Donald Trump was really something, huh? There was no shortage of people who were wondering if the supposedly “compromised” corporate account had royally stepped in it. But the brouhaha inspired TIME to update and re-up a relevent post from earlier this month:
"It’s time for your favorite brands to pick a political side" https://t.co/4Q71UOHhfu
— TIME (@TIME) March 16, 2017
Alleged brand expert Seth Matlins writes:
No matter what you stand for or against, there will be some who love you and some who hate you. As ad legend Bill Bernbach said, “If you stand for something, you will always find some people for you and some against you. If you stand for nothing, you will find nobody against you, and nobody for you.” This is our new marketing reality, and cultural values are marketing’s new table stakes . Few are the brands who court controversy as a matter of strategy. But in today’s landscape, avoiding taking sides and bringing your cultural values to life to avoid controversy is a fast track to irrelevance.
…
Yes, “doing well by doing good” is a decades-old truism. But showing the world what you stand for (and occasionally against) is now as important, efficient and effective an eyeball-grabbing platform as exists. To win today’s battles for attention — as in, relevance, engagement, resource allocation and return — you’d better let people know whose side you’re on.
…
t turns out Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben was right when he said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” But what he left unsaid is that inside this great responsibility lives great opportunity. Today, brands can be neither quiet, defensive nor isolated. They have to be proactive, and they have to stand for something — for both the world’s and their own good.
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The piece seems to be going over well so far:
https://twitter.com/RAnders39575742/status/842435124595720193
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 16, 2017
Nope @TIME
— David Hines (@hradzka) March 16, 2017
How bout no
— Joey Mays ?? (@JMFlyer1454) March 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/DebRobson3/status/842420298167271424
A thousand times, no.
— John Fenton (@jhfenton) March 16, 2017
Counterpoint: No it isn't.
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) March 16, 2017
No, it really isn't. SMH
— Courtney (@AlaskanCourtney) March 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/ncbjd/status/842423598899974148
https://twitter.com/Southie777/status/842411667224985600
— Franklin Harris? (@FranklinH3000) March 16, 2017
No, it most certainly is not.
— Chuck Dotson (@chuck_late) March 16, 2017
about fuckin time!
Said nobody ever.— Momentum Gaza (@MomentumGaza) March 16, 2017
.@TIME No, I don't think so. Not now, not ever. Is there any sector of American life you'd like to not ruin?!
— Mike (@thedaddy91) March 16, 2017
See, this is why no one wants to hang with you at parties.
— Cardinal Curmudgeon (@Gimblin) March 16, 2017
That is exactly the opposite of what we should do.
— Matthew J. Rednour (@MatRed55) March 16, 2017
— Emerald (@AlwaysTrumpin) March 16, 2017
Yes, let's add political cosplay to everything! That'll make people less miserable.
— What a Stupid Time to be Alive (@mrd125) March 16, 2017
Media damns big corporate money in politics, but Time suggests big corps should get political? As long as they back liberals, eh? #WTF
— John Liberty (@JohnLibertyUSA) March 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/justkarl/status/842454131256229892
They left off the asterisk.
*Unless your chic-fil-a. https://t.co/PDw9WXCBS4
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) March 16, 2017
I advise my clients to not do this.
— Jason Fox (@jason_fox) March 16, 2017
If only shareholders weren't a thing. https://t.co/fZIc02tFWR
— Andrea Caruso (@AndreaNRuth) March 16, 2017
Possibly the worst business advice of all @Time. #NoLessonsLearned
— Austere Curator of Media Malfunction (@rreactor) March 16, 2017
as an Agency, this may be the worst branding/marketing advice we've ever seen.
— Essense Partners (@EssenseNYC) March 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/JammieWF/status/842417826904317952
https://twitter.com/CrankyGordon/status/842428637978714112
I picked a side and cancelled my subscription to Time.
— tbone9070 (@tbone9070) March 16, 2017
Clearly encouraging more politicization is doing wonders for TIME’s brand!