Social media trends: pricing and power

Each week, Marketing Brew recaps what people are talking about on social media, the trends that took over our feeds, and how marketers are responding.

Surge of outrage: When Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner announced plans to introduce “dynamic pricing” at its restaurants next year, people were generally unhappy about the idea of surge pricing at restaurants. Some people joked about reselling Baconators during off-peak hours, along with the bleak reality of having to bid on fast food instead of spending on things that were once affordable for young people, like, say, real estate. One person pointed out that Wendy’s could have avoided this by framing the price changes as off-peak deals instead. In a statement to CNN, the fast-food company clarified that it was “never our plan to raise prices when customers are visiting us the most.”

On the topic of food getting more expensive, people also weren’t thrilled at Kellogg’s CEO, Gary Pilnick, telling people to eat cereal for dinner to save money. One TikToker said “he’s not only managed to insult low-income families but [also] to push Kellogg’s cereal in one sentence.”

Clean slate: In response to social media posts about its bags getting dirty, luggage company Béis decided to host a luggage wash pop-up in LA and post cleaning how-to videos and infographics to show people that its products can have a second life. The brand also used the moment as an opportunity to plug its luggage cover. As one TikToker put it, Béis “just showed every single brand how to handle bad PR.”

Rigged deal: A trend circulated in the last week where people tried to trick their friends and loved ones into believing they got invited on a brand trip or got a job offer at an oil rig, for some reason. ExxonMobil was often the company cited, which got some thinking about the potential marketing opportunities for them and other brands, while others were a bit more skeptical about whether that was a good idea.

Referential: Reformation announced a new campaign with Monica Lewinsky this week as part of its 2024 get-out-the-vote campaign, “You’ve got the power,” in partnership with Vote.org. And people are really eating it up. One X user made the observation that Lewinsky is perhaps finally getting some justice for the treatment she endured years ago.