The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

257: Web of Fury: The Hidden Forces Fueling Online Anger and Viral Vengeance

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Why are social media platforms increasingly becoming the battleground for public apologies and brand backlashes? This episode sheds light on the psychology behind it all. Starting from the Bud Light fiasco in April to a TikTokker rant about a popular shoe brand from last week - discussing the reasons behind the rants.

Episode Highlights:

1. The Scandalous Shredding: Uncover the jaw-dropping story of a fashion label that sent millions of dollars worth of clothing to the shredder instead of donating it, leaving listeners questioning the motives behind this wasteful action.

2. Cancel Culture: Explore the phenomenon of cancel culture and its impact on both public figures and everyday individuals. An update on the reasons behind the backlash and providing actionable strategies to understand and navigate it if it happens to you.

3. Facing the Flames: Molly shares personal anecdotes and experiences about facing online criticism, offering valuable advice on effectively responding to trolls and engaging with individuals with genuine concerns or misunderstandings.

4. Cognitive Reframing and Apologies: Discover the importance of cognitive reframing in altering perceptions and reducing emotional attachment. Molly discusses the significance of issuing timely apologies and acknowledgment to prevent further retribution and build a safe and supportive community.

Beyond the Headlines: In this segment, Molly takes a deep dive into the behind-the-scenes world of PR and shares her recent experience with a TikTok firestorm. Gain valuable insights into the personalized algorithms of platforms like TikTok and learn how to address issues and minimize anger within your online community proactively.

Join Molly on Patreon for even deeper dives into celebrity PR strategies and exclusive live sessions!

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© 2024 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

Speaker 1:

Every single day my tiktok account is tagged numerous times by people looking for my take on situations that seemingly warrants an apology. These tags likely come my way for what. I suppose some people assume I have expertise in analyzing corporate and celebrity apologies. I by no means think I'm the best at doing this, but it's something that I think about and look at frequently. What stands out to me in the majority of the videos that people tag me on is this prevailing sentiment of anger. People are demanding either justice or an explanation. So in the video I'm about to play, this woman wants an explanation from a popular clothing brand. Be advised, this video contains explicit language, so listener discretion is advised.

Speaker 2:

What the actual fuck. Vans was on the way to my workout class and I saw a guy frantically throwing these shoes in front of the van store and I stood there like kind of confused and he was like vans just like dumped all of these to throw out. And I was like what do you mean? Vans literally threw out all these shoes and not only did they just throw out these shoes on the street, in their boxes, they cut them so people could not use them. They had all the vans, I guess, out for recycling in these boxes and they cut them so people could not use them. These are literally baby shoes. He was showing me all of this and I was like they went through and slash every single pair of shoes so that these brand new shoes could not be worn.

Speaker 2:

With the homeless population in the city. This is absolutely disgusting. I'm actually walking by vans now and it's all cleaned up like it's all gone. I said to the guy that was dumping all the shoes out like good for you for making a point and throwing all these shoes in front of the store, please tag vans in this video. I don't know if this was like a higher up sort of protocol or if it's just something the vans Philly store did, but honestly I will not be going back there anytime soon.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the indestructible PR podcast. I'm Molly McPherson, sharing breaking news and pop culture zeitgeist moments that aren't just for social media. Each week, I pick a buzzy story, analyze the juicy bits and follow up with a PR lesson, using tried and true media and PR tricks of the trade. This episode is going to help you dodge any type of crisis curveball, to help you build a reputation that's not just strong, it's indestructible. So why are brands and people flamed on social media? Let's look at the realm of anger and what's behind it. So, in this digital age that we all live in, it's no surprise that we are witnessing a constant stream of public apologies from major beer brands, reality tv stars and even private individuals who find themselves in the eye of the viral storm. Now, speaking of major beer brands, you know, anyone who's a listener knows that I was eyeballs deep into the whole bud light fiasco last week. Last saturday, I went to Bruce Springsteen concert and it was a great concert. We decided at the last minute to just we have tickets, I tickets earlier in the week that I did not use and I gave those away, because that's what you have to do when you have kids who go to college, when you buy Bruce Springsteen tickets, but anyway. But I went with someone and we ended up just driving to foxborough and at the gate we just went to the phone, opened up the app, just started looking for seats and I said I have to go in deep, I have to go to general admission, right in the pit, right there, to watch Bruce Springsteen, because I don't know how many more Bruce Springsteen concerts I have in me, or even as he has in them, and I just wanted to do that. So we did that. But something that I noticed walking into foxborough is all the beer was bud light and there was everybody in line, you know, for their bud light beer. But I come back to this anyway.

Speaker 1:

But the reason why I wanted to talk about this topic at this moment is because it comes up so frequently in my work. The last two weeks I have been working with clients on their viral outraged moments and I will let you know that I have created a new offering that aligns better with my schedule, which is more of a quick hit. So I'm calling it a quick hit crisis communication plan, and this is really for people who find themselves just in the eye of the storm, because that's where crisis communication is right now. I write plans for people. I'm writing a plan for a client right now, but it is this long drawn out plan to prepare for some type of backlash. But what do you do when the backlash happens at the moment? So that's why I wanted to focus on this today, because I'm in the thick of it. I am in the thick and I just got an email from a client right now who is being savagely attacked online and the psychology behind it, I think, is interesting, so I wanted to share that with you all as well. And you also may think well, why does this matter to me? I mean, I'm talking about brands and that's where you're going to see it from brands, they're going to be called out. A friend of mine just sent me a text this morning, a link to an article about Alice Cooper, who was called out because he made anti-trans comments and he was working with a makeup brand. They dropped him. So that will be a TikTok later on today. But this idea of the call-out and this viral revenge or vengeance or outrage is really such a part of my business right now, so I want to share it with you all and also to keep in mind. It's not just for brands, it's not just for famous people, it's for people, definitely, like I would say in my space, it's people who are known to their communities, but more and more people who are just regular people are being called out publicly. So I think it's important to understand why people do and understand what you can do if that happens to you.

Speaker 1:

Now in the clip that I played in the open that was from Vans and I was tagged multiple times on the Vans video and when I saw it at my age I've been around a number of decades. This idea of merchandise being destroyed. I have a familiarity with it. I've never no, I was going to say I've never worked in retail, but I did. Back in the day I worked for Dayton's, which no longer exists. I was owned by Hudson's but I would work at their warehouse so I could get the Dayton's discount, which was just the best discount in the world. But this idea of destroying merchandise really is not that uncommon. But for someone who's young and perhaps who's never worked in retail, she was absolutely shocked. Now the person in that video was younger I'm going to put them late college age, early 20s. They're walking down the street in Philadelphia and they're absolutely appalled that there would be a pile of Vans, which is a desirable brand, sitting on a sidewalk and all of the waste is clearly what got to her. Now she takes her grievance to TikTok, as many people do, and that's why so many people take me on it.

Speaker 1:

Now you may be wondering did Vans respond? Now, normally when people take me on brands and it happens a lot the company will not respond. I was surprised to see that Vans was responding to people taking me on this account. So it puts them in a pretty difficult position. And what I noticed in their response, so let me read it first to you. So this came under. So someone tagged me and they said at Molly B McPherson, I guess this doesn't follow your framework, you know, does it? And this is what the Vans TikTok account said, quote we will always prioritize donating usable products to those in need. After investigating, we confirm these products were deemed unsafe to donate. I was surprised that they responded on TikTok and then I was surprised that they repeated that statement over and over and over again on TikTok. Now, is that the smart thing to do?

Speaker 1:

Now, this is a tough spot for Vans because destroying unsold merchandise is a somewhat common practice. They're not the only ones who've done it, but they're the only ones who have to respond to it on TikTok. So there are other retailers. So I was looking this up. I wanted to know okay, what have other retailers done in the past? And not many come forward with responses.

Speaker 1:

I found an article that was on HuffPo, but they had quoted a 2010 Slate Post talking about high-end clothing companies in particular choose to destroy unsold merchandise rather than donate it. So the Slate Post cited fashion journalist Erika Kualik. She claimed that she knew a quote very high up and profitable, and quote fashion label that sent $2 million worth of clothing and purses to the shredder rather than donating the goods. And the reason they don't want the wares to end up in the unwashed masses or in some unsightly discount bin. They don't want to end up on eBay. They don't want to end up in a marshals, maybe somewhere, or in a goodwill.

Speaker 1:

And if so many brands contributed this practice, then why did Vans take the hit and did they deserve it? Well, vans took the hit because someone at that Vans retailer decided to dump all the property in the front of the building as someone was walking by, because when people see brand new merchandise. You're going to draw people. It's like moths to a flame. So did that response work for Vans? I'm going to tell you I don't think so.

Speaker 1:

Now is it wise for Vans to take their statement, paste it over and over and over again? I don't know the numbers on that. I don't know if that's the right thing to do. I don't like it. It's robotic, it's copy and paste. It doesn't seem authentic at all and that's what messaging is supposed to be.

Speaker 1:

My big bugaboo with this post, however, is that I don't believe it, because this is a fairly common practice with higher-end brands or brands with a label a highly desirable label. For Vans to come out and say that it was deemed unsafe to donate. That just seems like a downright lie. How's a shoe unsafe to donate? I believe if it were me and I was running the Vans communication department or social media, I just wouldn't respond. I would let it go, and one of the reasons why I would let it go is because so many other brands do the same practice.

Speaker 1:

But does that make it right? I believe they could get into a place where, if this does grow, they could come out with a statement and acknowledge the situation because some brand at some point likely is going to have to do this and they could acknowledge that they dispose on silk clothing through destruction methods and it's a practice that's consistent with many brands in the industry. But maybe now they're reconsidering it, you know. Maybe they could atone for it and be more committed to doing better. They understand that it's frustrating to people and people may be disappointed in the brand, but then you explain exactly what happens. It protects brand integrity and it ensures that counterfeits do not enter the marketplace. Maybe you could say but there might be more responsible alternatives, so you could pause on those activities or we're in the process of conducting that review and actually mean it.

Speaker 1:

You could state that you're aware that these actions have broader implications, not just for the environment, but maybe for communities and needs, and so promise some immediate actions. Maybe we're partnering with charitable organizations to donate it. Maybe there are future measures there, initiatives like recycling, upcycling. You know something where it is understandable again that you don't want more desirable brands to end up in places where it diminishes the brand. It's a business decision. Again, reasonable people understand this. So that's the type of messaging there, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about what exacerbates that issue, where people have to make statements like that.

Speaker 1:

So nowadays, we're just seeing, you know, with, as I mentioned, you know, all these apologies. They're coming out because these brands are in the eye of the storm. You know their name is being destroyed online. So there's this surge of online anger that targets brands and targets individuals, and it is more than a trend. People don't do it just to do it. They do it because there's something inside that makes them want to do it. There's this escalation of the negativity that's out there because people want to do that. So why should you care about this idea? Why should you care about the practice Is because a digital environment can be a very toxic environment, and I've worked with a lot of brands.

Speaker 1:

I worked with a lot of organizations profit, nonprofit, not for profit when they are dealing with this type of blowback and they're completely thrown by it. No one is immune to it no one. I've been attacked online and it does something to you. It affects you, but I've also seen things where I wanted to attack online. Mostly, I want to attack people who come at me in my comments. Those are the people I just want to go for him right, but we don't. We don't.

Speaker 1:

So I've been researching this topic for a while, so I want to give you three reasons that I see on social media every single day and I see it with my clients. And, oh boy, like I mentioned, have I seen this with my clients? Oh, my gosh, even right now I am in the thick of it with a client. Oh, my goodness, they're dealing with just plain old online revenge and it is something to behold, definitely okay. So this topic for this week the reason I'm mentioning it is because Eleanor Hawkins I worked with her before, so she Add it's the newsletter for coms, for axios. It's a terrific newsletter. I have a link in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

But she did a really, really good take on public apologies and she wanted to look at why companies need to apologize nowadays. So she reached out to me and, ironically, we had scheduled the time for this interview and I couldn't meet that time because I was in the thick of it with another client. It's someone who's online on tiktok primarily, who is being excoriated online. I was in the middle of our response and I couldn't do that interview with her, so we rescheduled it and when I came to that interview I thought, oh, I have such a fresher perspective on it right now, and so she had asked me about you know why these things happen?

Speaker 1:

And I had told her and she quoted me that the social media fire storms. I was going with the fire theme and flaming on social media, so you'll hear that a lot nowadays. I am not of the storm and the I while I just did just mention the eye of the hurricane, didn't I? But trying to get away from the storm metaphors, because every crisis person use that. I'm talking about Fire. But what I was mentioning to her is the social media. Fire storms can envelope, like the brands you know, and consume their reputation. It just, you know, absolutely Incinerate the reputation and it happens quickly. But what is fueling that to is on social media. It's created in a way that these happen more frequently.

Speaker 1:

So Eleanor had cited in her story that there is a correlation between what's read and what's posted. So she cited a 2014 study from preceding of the national academy of sciences that predates tiktok, which is a now highly personalized algorithm. It's much different than face book, much different than reddit, where it's driven a lot by the recency of a post. You know how recent was that post and how many people like that recent post. But when there's more negativity attached to that post, there's more attention placed on it.

Speaker 1:

So she quoted me as saying that's why more people need to be prepared to quickly explain issues, apologies or acknowledgements, because if there's a lack of an apology or lack of acknowledgement, there will be retribution and people will deem the lack of apology as yet another grievance, so they'll need to apologize even more. That wasn't a great quote, but anyway, but that's what I was talking about. So these firestorms that are happening now, they are happening in a way that really create problems for brands, and so the surge of online anger has significant implications, and I would say there was a long, long long time and we're still there where brands and people reflexively felt they had to apologize immediately, believe it or not. Even though I'm known as a apology queen not self appointed by any means, I'm just basing that on my tags that people are constantly, you know, sending me, which I appreciate, but I am at the place now. I don't feel like everybody needs to apologize. We need to explain more, we need to go to the explanation. It's not really an apology, but we acknowledge it. You know again, the indestructible PR framework.

Speaker 1:

You want to do the OPE? Yeah, you know me. That's the first time. I just realized it this morning when I was looking at own and explain it and promise it. I thought I need an acronym that's easy. Like how could I do this? Like, oh, does this come up with a word now OPE? Now, I could put an R in front of it. I'm gonna do my thinking with all of you right now. Should I call it rope, respond? Oh, how to respond on it? Explain it, promise it. That's not rope. Okay, I need to rethink this acronym. If anyone can come up with an acronym for me or help me make this easier, feel free to send it my way.

Speaker 1:

But let's talk about now the three reasons why I think there's this proliferation of online anger that's aimed at brands and aimed at you potentially. Now. So much of it when I explain it to clients. Like just yesterday, this is how I broke it down with a client who's dealing with An issue with employees. So I want to keep this as private as possible, because I have Disclosures with all my clients, but they're dealing with an employee issue that has definitely spread into the public space and I told this client. There's different levels of it, like we just don't want to get to certain digital levels and it didn't.

Speaker 1:

So I was focusing on you know why this was happening in the client I'm dealing with this team, but the one client who's the face of it, really taking everything personally, like tears, and I explained you know, what you are going through is very, very personal. That's not that different than a divorce, and they were expecting the separation of business to happen More seamlessly. But I said look at it like a divorce and an acrimonious divorce. How do those go? They don't go well. There's a lot of outrage, there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of retribution. When that happens, I said that's what you're going through. You're going through a divorce and you're both fighting over custody for the kids and it's getting ugly. And part of the reason why it's ugly is because people are now taking sides or they see something happening and they're going to come and swarm, like in the case of this client. So these are the three reasons why I think there is such all these crises now have so much viral outrage attached to it.

Speaker 1:

The first point is this it's animinity in so many cases, because animinity affords the people on the internet the ability to express themselves without any consequence. They can say whatever they want because they have this invisibility cloak around them. So it emboldens people. They're more aggressive, they're more confrontational than they would be face to face or if their name was attached to it or if their profile photo is there. So this disconnect between online actions in real world repercussions, it kind of fuels this willingness to express anger more openly.

Speaker 1:

Where we see this is reddit more and more with my clients now. Wow, more and more I've become a reddit queen. When I have to like, just download and chill. Now when I go on my phone like, okay, just gotta look at stuff, I just go to reddit Because reddit one helps me out of my job because I get in the psychology people. But you can learn so much like for my business. I get asked all the time how can I learn more about crisis comms? How can I do what you do? You want to know what you do? Go to Reddit. Go to Reddit and figure out. How would you fix that. So animinity is number one. Number two is instant gratification and the lack of repercussions.

Speaker 1:

Social media platforms are designed for this quick, reactive responses, so the ease where someone can just like something, post something, share something, comment on something, show outrage on something. It just creates and fosters this culture of instant gratification. I want it. I want it now. I feel this way. I got to put it out right now.

Speaker 1:

And when people have anger, they want to put it out Like, imagine, just like fighting someone on text. If you've gone through something where you've gone through a confrontation with a person, think of how you've let that out. Is it texting? Is it screaming at them? Is it yelling at them? Well, people are doing the same thing, but they're doing it on social media. But what makes it better? So think if you've ever been in a situation where someone has wronged you and you were able to look them in the eye and tell them what they did, and tell them I am onto you, I know what you're doing and this is what I think of you. It feels so good in that moment, but one of the let downs is there's no one else to enjoy that with you. There's no one else standing right next to you, going nicely done. Don't you feel better? No, but you know where that happens Social media. Imagine just letting it all out and then having all these other people cheer you on and say the same thing and pile on and pile on and pile on.

Speaker 1:

That is one of the biggest reasons why there is viral outrage. And three, this idea of tribalism. So these online platforms I just heard it again with you know, talking with my client and their team it's an echo chamber, it is an absolute echo chamber. It reinforces beliefs that certain people have and their opinions I'm watching it now and Reddit, the opinions about my client. They're wrong, they're wrong and I see it over and over and over. It's just perpetuating over and over and over. They're just lies. But when someone sees someone's outrage, oh my gosh, well, they must be right. So this tribalism fuels this collective anger.

Speaker 1:

And where does tribalism exist? In like-minded communities, where everyone is drawn to that community, and that's where Reddit is really, really big with that and emotion becomes like a group sentiment. So instead of having a bunch of individual sentiments, they group together and then they target a brand or a celebrity. They target Bud Light, or they support Kid Rock, or they go after Bud Light, or they go after Kid Rock. And isn't it interesting that recently there was a photo TMC posted a photo of Kid Rock drinking beer. Can anyone guess the brand he was drinking? Oh yeah, bud Light.

Speaker 1:

Now, those were the three reasons. Now there's one more underlying reason that adds to all of those points that I just mentioned, something that makes it worse, and this is something that Eleanor cited in her newsletter. As a matter of fact, she put it in her headline because I told her, and I had just gotten off the phone with my client, when I hopped down the phone with her and I told her, I said this is the biggest problem and she took it and ran with it, which is the reason why her newsletter received incredible traction. I mean that addition of it because of the topic. It's so well written. But I mentioned the algorithm.

Speaker 1:

This is driving social media platforms to amplify negative commentary. It just creates this pressing need for what I do. It's creating swift, clear apologies or explanations. You've got to be on it, alright. So what's the solution? What do you do if this happens to you? I mean, clearly, you do need an effective crisis management strategy, and it's not just for companies, it's not just for brands, it's for people, just for regular people. Everybody needs to know how to respond, even on social media. I am now getting calls from people who I follow on social media. They're just a person, but then something happens to them and now they're calling me. Like what do I say? What do I do? So my job now? I have hourly consulting. It's like partly therapy and part professional therapy personal and professional. So these are the things that you should do.

Speaker 1:

With the complexity of online anger, driven by the factors I just mentioned Anomity, instant gratification, tribalism you have to approach the issue in a more practical, critical thinking way, one you have to have a strategy, a crisis communication strategy, in place to tackle it, and the easiest way to do it is just use my indestructible PR framework. You know? Oh, pee pee. Yeah, you know me, I'm just going for now on, explain it, promise it. Okay, just own up to what happened. Explain what happened in the promise. Either do better or differently. Whatever it is, it's as simple as that. That is a crisis communication strategy. It speaks to it so you can move on.

Speaker 1:

You can also directly engage with people who are expressing anger. I don't like getting into the thick of it when people are coming at you online and they're just angry. I tell my clients like in the case of this client right now and then another one that I had the previous week. Don't die been. You don't need to. Just don't for now. I know it's hard, it's difficult. We have your response. We just need to wait until this thing happens and then will all the truth will be revealed. It's really difficult to sit in that gray area and I understand that.

Speaker 1:

But professionally, you do need to respond, and when you do now, you need to engage in that dialogue. So, when possible, engage directly with those expressing anger Not the trollish anger, but people. Perhaps if your brand, if your person on social media, maybe you're an organization that's real facebook driven or you have a community, maybe facebook group, go in there, where people know you in your community, and start talking it out and explain it. Do it with the people who are reasonable. Don't just respond to super fans. Do it with reasonable people who understand you will make you feel better. So don't feed the trolls, but aim to engage with those who's anger or confusion stems from a legitimate grievance. So maybe you did do something wrong or maybe something you said was taken out of context. This will give you a place to explain it.

Speaker 1:

And finally, you do want to check, though, if you are a brand yourself or you work for an organization. You need to have that type of moderation, that third party moderation, where you have a distance and also the ability to fact check, the ability to look at what's being said, and you need a person who's unbiased to add that layer of scrutiny. If you get the person who's emotional you know I was talking to someone this week who you know, the client I'm dealing with what's the go in and do the back and forth and talk, which I get part of it? They need to speak to their people, they need to just let it all out, right. But when that person does it in only one community, the safe community, and no where else, it gives the impression that they only want to respond to the people who love them and not to the people who have legitimate grievances. So it's a bit of a dance, but you want to have someone in there at least that can be unbiased and add that other layer of scrutiny that you may need.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you adopt these ideas, these methods, you can handle any incident that happens to you. You can effectively at least calm yourself down and work towards creating A better culture for you or your brand or your business organization that can minimize this propensity for the anger to just take hold in your community in the first place. The end of every episode, I include one indestructible p? R? T. It is a practical take away to help you build an indestructible reputation.

Speaker 1:

So effective strategy to dismiss online anger and just feel better about yourself is to practice cognitive reframing. This technique helps you to alter your perception of the situation by just viewing it through a different lens, and it's one that diminishes its emotional grab over you. So, for instance, instead of viewing an online attack is a personal front, just reframing it as a manifestation of someone else's own issues or stress or ignorance. The more you depersonalize the situation, it will reduce the emotional impact it has on you. Just remind yourself that the online environment can sometimes bring out the worst in people, and that comments often say more about the commenter then about you. And there you have it. So I'm eager to hear your thoughts on today's topic, so join the conversation by checking out my social media posts this week. Alright, everyone, thanks for tuning in. Bye for now.

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