Crisis memory 2.0: January 2017

At the beginning of 2017, Forem published an advertising campaign that lit up Belgian social networks: The poster played heavily on stereotypes, particularly with regard to the illustrations for the opposite sex. Although the social networking angle was the one that illustrated articles on the subject, the number of tweets remained fairly measured and concentrated around the media. Teaching : As usual in Belgium, it only takes a small volume of tweets to alert the press. 2. Philips

On one of its end-of-year gift sets, Phillips, under licence from Star Wars, used the image of the only female Stormtrooper, Captain Phasma, to sell an electric shaver for men. On social networks, fans of the famous saga made fun of the brand.

Lesson: The detail hits the nail on the head again! 3. Ikea Following the Cash Investigation programme on wood, Ikea will be attacked on social networks, which will lead to journalists writing a few articles. Lessons learned: The random nature of the generation of articles on reactions to Cash Investigation on social networks is an interesting phenomenon to observe. 4. University of Strasbourg On a tumblr called "Paye ta fac", students reported sexist remarks made by their professors, which alerted social networks and regional newspapers. Teaching :

• The beginnings of BalanceYourPorc

5. Orange A blogger sparked a heated debate after complaining about a message sent to her by an Orange technician. After visiting her home, the Orange technician used the telephone number in the user's contract to send her the following text message : "Hello again, this is the Orange technician. Just to tell you that you were very pretty and that you have a beautiful smile." A debate then broke out on the issues of flirting and harassment. There were two opposing camps, as illustrated in the map below: On the right, the supporters of the blogger, Buffymars, and on the left, her opponents. Orange is almost totally absent from these conversations: the issue goes beyond it. Lessons learned:

• This scandal proves that in more and more crises the company is just one of the players. The crisis erupts and calls into question a societal value as a whole and not the company directly.

6. Kia

In response, the brand said : "The brand logo has not been printed on the national flag, but it is a cape in the colours of Tunisia dedicated to supporters at matches.

The idea is similar to the caps or shirts that feature the colours of the countries taking part in major footballing events.

Kia has no ill intentions and would never dare harm the Tunisian flag, it simply wanted to offer this gift to Carthage Eagles supporters."

Teaching:

• National symbols are always problematic for an organisation.

7. Le Figaro In its papers, Le Figaro published an anti-IVG campaign: Many Internet users were shocked that a major French daily could make money from anti-ivg propaganda. The debate even led to some unease among the editorial staff. Lessons learned: Increasingly, published advertisements are also subject to pressure on broadcasters and no longer exclusively on the advertiser. 8. Air France