Marketing Gold: Bodyform Apologies For “False Advertising”

This is a case of social media going right!  As Adweek puts it, “Brands often freeze up when they’re criticized on Facebook.”  I even talked (or at least reposted) about “The Unhappy Customer” as one of the 7-types of social media users (for business), and how “45% of consumers are more likely to share negative experiences on social media.”

This is a little tongue-in-cheek, but on October 8, 2013 a certain Richard Neill posted a rant on Bodyform’s Facebook Page about Bodyform lying over the years about their products and the way they are portrayed in their commercials.  Here’s Richards post:

Hi , as a man I must ask why you have lied to us for all these years . As a child I watched your advertisements with interest as to how at this wonderful time of the month that the female gets to enjoy so many things ,I felt a little jealous. I mean bike riding , rollercoasters, dancing, parachuting, why couldn’t I get to enjoy this time of joy and ‘blue water’ and wings !! Dam my penis!! Then I got a girlfriend, was so happy and couldn’t wait for this joyous adventurous time of the month to happen …..you lied !! There was no joy , no extreme sports , no blue water spilling over wings and no rocking soundtrack oh no no no. Instead I had to fight against every male urge I had to resist screaming wooaaahhhhh bodddyyyyyyfooorrrmmm bodyformed for youuuuuuu as my lady changed from the loving , gentle, normal skin coloured lady to the little girl from the exorcist with added venom and extra 360 degree head spin. Thanks for setting me up for a fall bodyform , you crafty bugger.

I have no idea why Richard Neill decided to post this on Bodyform’s page, but it’s quite hilarious.  Within a week, Bodyform had responded to Richard Neill’s complaints with a video…and it does not disappoint!  Bodyform posted this message with their video:

We loved Richard’s wicked sense of humour. We are always grateful for input from our users, but his comment was particularly poignant. If Facebook had a “love” button, we’d have clicked it. But it doesn’t. So we’ve made Richard a video instead. Unfortunately Bodyform doesn’t have a CEO. But if it did she’d be called Caroline Williams. And she’d say this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpy75q2DDow

…and you can check out the video here:

When I first read the article in Adweek, I couldn’t believe how brilliant I thought this reaction was.  Bodyform has a sense of humor…even if Richard’s original post was a bit of a joke in-and-of itself.  Who knows if the Richard post was even planted.  Doesn’t matter to me, it’s some great marketing.