Crisis memory 2.0: October 2017

The Brussels Marathon caused a stir on social networks because of the runners' victory bonuses. The men's champion received 1,000 euros, while the women's winner only received 300 euros. The whole thing will get the Belgian social networks buzzing, and will also reach the press: Politicians have also made statements on the subject. In the end, the organisation decided to give the same prizes to both winners. Teaching: The power of image editing is strong, coupled with the politics, it moves the lines. The company Dove was called racist because of an advertisement. In a 30-second commercial, Dove showed women of different sizes, shapes and skin colours. The brand's intention was to promote beauty for all women, regardless of their colour. However, an image was edited for political purposes by a campaigner, and taken out of context, it is highly embarrassing and distorts the message of the brand's advertising spot. However, faced with an upsurge in negative comments on social networks, Dove 'retropedaled' without reason and without trying to make its point. Teaching : This example proves an increasingly blatant observation: companies give in a little too easily to the howling sirens of social networks. Even if it's not easy, companies need to reclaim their rights and be able to decide whether or not they are in crisis. It's not the noise on social networks or an external statement that decides whether a company is in crisis. The state of crisis must remain an internal power of the organisation. A Marco blogger was "body shamed" by an intermediary email. A Maybelline employee from L'Oréal mistakenly sent an email to the blogger she was mocking. The blogger then divulged the exchange via Facebook and her blog, ensuring a lot of exposure. Lessons learned: A rare case, which reminds me of the case of H & M, who mistakenly sent an email to a France Info journalist!

To publicise his virtual reality service, Mark Zuckerberg had the bad idea of taking Porto Vecchio, which had been devastated by Hurricane Irma. He wanted to show just how much technology could help on the spot. Instead, the debate focused more on dark tourism - visiting places affected by natural disasters.

Teaching: It wouldn't have been Facebook, there wouldn't have been a crisis.

A Nivea advert is going to be accused of racism. The advert was broadcast in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Senegal and proposes to lighten the skin:

"I need a product I can trust to restore the natural clarity of my skin" says the muse in the video broadcast. Although the video was released in May, it is back in the news in October. The brand will reply: "We have recently noted concerns on social media from some consumers regarding our communication in Ghana for Nivea Natural Fairness milk. We would like to stress that this campaign is in no way intended to belittle or glorify (...) skin care needs or preferences." They removed the ads following the controversy. Teaching: Another case of the internationalisation of bad buzz.

An Ernst & Young employee posts a video on Snapchat in which he makes particularly racist remarks. The video quickly grew to over 20,000 shares. In this video, accompanied by another, he says that people of colour should be put in cages. As the pressure on Ernst & Young grew, the company issued a statement: