Marketing

Yes, some brands made memes of the slap—were they in the wrong?

According two a few marketers we spoke to, yes.
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Everybody’s still talking about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. But you know who probably shouldn’t? Brands—at least according to marketers that we spoke with.

  • Companies like MealPal and SunnyD made memes about the slap, depicting videos or images of Smith slapping Rock and adding their own branded captions.
  • MealPal’s image, for instance, is a photo of Smith slapping Rock with text overlaid atop each of them. Smith’s text reads “MealPal,” Rock’s says “pays full price for lunch.” The words were, of course, in MealPal’s signature red.
  • Retailer Fashion Nova also used the incident to plug a 40% discount it said it “slapped” on its site.

Zoom in: Charles Etoroma, senior social media manager, content, at Warby Parker, told Marketing Brew he’d seen a few brands making light of the confrontation with memes—and wasn’t a fan. “To me, it’s super inappropriate and insensitive,” he said. “Brands are doing what they do best in hopping in on a complex moment they don’t understand all for their own gain.”

Zoom out: “Brands so often miss the mark by seeing anything that happens within the Black community as somehow exploitable for their own gain,” Lola Bakare, a CMO advisor and inclusive marketing strategist, told us. Bakare suggested that brands should “leave this one alone, or better yet, react as if it was George Clooney who verbally abused an actress and then got slapped. Pretty sure there wouldn’t be any funny memes.”

Looking ahead: FWIW, Marketing Brew didn’t see that many brands posting about what happened, although some were quick to delete their posts. Maybe marketers actually learned something from the West Elm Caleb saga—namely, that it’s okay to sit one out sometimes.—PB

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Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.