If you’re teaching a class on social media marketing and need an example of how quickly something can go from bad to worse, look no further than Black Milk Clothing and their tribute to Sunday’s Star Wars holiday “May The Fourth.” The company, which is famous for empowering the non-traditional woman — especially when it comes to those women embracing their inner nerdsexy — made the unfortunate decision to post the side-by-side photos above of a traditionally attractive woman sporting one of their R2-D2 inspired Artoo swimsuits along with the word “Expectation” and a photo of The Big Bang Theory‘s Mayim Bialik dressed in a Star Trek costume with the word “Reality.”
For most companies this shallow and insensitive take on the Expectation/Reality meme might have gotten a few chuckles from fans before being forgotten altogether, but for an apparel company that has worked so hard to build a brand based on the notion of sexy and geeky not being antonyms, the post drew numerous negative comments from disappointed loyal fans:
At this stage (pay attention class!) the disaster could have easily been avoided if Black Milk had simply issued an apology and removed the post, but instead they did the absolute worst thing you could do by not only defending their decision to post the graphic, but also putting down those who were complaining about it — including banning fans of their Facebook page, some of them long-time fans!
They later announced they would be removing the initial post, but not because they thought they were wrong in posting it, just that it was creating too much negativity:
Hey guys, we have had a really good think about this situation and we have come to a decision. We plan on deleting this post (in a few minutes) because we feel it is giving a platform for hateful comments about the brand we know and love. All that we want to do is create beautiful clothes, not deal with internet raging. So let’s close this off. In terms of the major issues people have mentioned, here are our feelings:
1. This is a joke, harmless, not hateful. We like to have a joke and poke fun at ourselves. Be cool with it.
2. Yes, we removed a lot of negative comments because we felt like they had overstepped the mark! We are constantly hearing from our customers that our fan page has become a place of complaining and attacking, and they are sick of it! So we are working at trying to communicate that complaining and negativity all the time is not okay. We have the right to do that, and people should respect that.
3. Yes, people were banned, again, because we felt they had overstepped the mark and were being disrespectful. You can share your opinion, but you can’t attack our staff. We love them too much. Of course, many people are saying that they were banned for “respectfully sharing their opinion”. But there are two sides to every story.
4. We LOVE our customers, but yes, we believe that if you get really upset by the way we do things, you should probably move on and not be a part of what we are doing. That’s not mean, that’s just to save all of us more frustration!
5. “Why can’t you just admit that you were wrong and apologise. Is it so hard?” Because we have integrity. Because we didn’t do anything wrong, so we have nothing to apologise for! We stand up for what we believe in. People can have differences of opinions about what is right and wrong, right?
Hope that makes sense. Thanks so much to all the kind and supportive comments (and hugs) from girls all over the world who are looking forward to a much more positive BM space.
– All the BM team (yes, all of us!)
Their responses caused the whole thing to go viral with numerous, lengthy articles written about the fiasco (1, 2, 3), and even a Buzzfeed post. Once again, for most companies this might have been an instance of “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” but for a company with such a specific brand — a brand that they are going viral for putting down — the attention is nothing but bad. And remember, all this happened in less than 48 hours!
So, earlier today Black Milk Clothing finally took a step to put out the fire by finally admitting the original post was not only in bad taste, but was also in stark contrast to the company’s ideals:
I want to start off by saying I am incredibly sorry for everything that has happened over the last couple of days.
We made a mistake and we apologise sincerely.
The intention behind the meme was to share a personal experience, and never meant to offend anyone. We misjudged the line between funny and offensive, and underestimated the true impact it would have. I am so sorry.
The senior management at Black Milk take full responsibility for the post and the way complaints following the post were handled. Any criticism should be directed there, and not to the social media team who were simply acting under the direction of management.
I want you guys to know that this wonderful, diverse community means so much to me personally. Having gone to meet ups and being involved in all the amazing things you guys do for each other is such a humbling experience. I don’t want to think that what has taken years to build could be jeopardised.
We are taking ownership of this situation, from the original post to the way complaints were handled. I will work together with the Black Milk team to ensure we learn from this.
We are a small, passionate team who truly value the friendships we have with you guys. I hope that the past four years are a testament to how proud we are of the diversity and inclusiveness within our communities. In saying that, we are human and unquestionably have made a mistake.
Again, we are truly sorry for everything that has happened. I really hope any damage caused over the last few days can be repaired.
This community is such a special place and we want everyone to fun and share the love.
Cam
In politics and business, bridges that took years to build can be burned in a matter of minutes when the wrong thing is said, but despite the poor decision making by Black Milk management over the last couple days, I sincerely hope that their years of admirable efforts (and eventual earnest apology) will mean they come out of this with only minor structural damage. 🙂
I should confess that I’m a big fan of the company. Being a celebrity blogger I see thousands of images of “attractive” women every day, and I think Black Milk’s fun, nerdy take on sexy is wonderfully refreshing. In honor of that tradition, and in hopes of helping the Black Milk Clothing train get back on track, here are some samples of their more typical Facebook posts from the last 30 days:
