May 28, 2014

The Soon-To-Be-Legendary 45-Day Cheese Tweet


If you're looking for a reason to throw yourself under a bus, I suggest reading We Got A Look Inside The 45-Day Planning Process That Goes Into Creating A Single Corporate Tweet at Business Insider.

It is written by someone who, I guess, is supposed to be an advertising reporter. But it's written with the clueless insouciance of a sorority girl wandering into a 9-man circle jerk.

The story goes something like this: a bunch of poor bastards are squandering their young lives in a social media "war room" creating useless nonsense while the agency milks its clients out of thousands of dollars .

Cutting to the chase here, the article tells the story of "13 social-media and advertising specialists" who took 45 days to "plan, create, approve, and publish" a tweet about cheese.

One fucking tweet -- 45 days!

Why? Because only social media specialists can be that fucking stupid.

It takes me 30 seconds to write a tweet and that's because I type with my feet.

The New York Times can publish a 50-page newspaper every fucking day of the year, but these cement-heads need 45 days to make a tweet.

Can you imagine how much money the agency made on that tweet?

I am in the WRONG FUCKING BUSINESS!

You have to read the details of this folly to appreciate the lunacy of it. According to the report, someone from the agency's social media team...
"...met with a copywriter and graphic designer to brainstorm tweet ideas for the next month. It was then that the copywriter suggested a tweet centered on the idea that Camembert, a French cheese popular during the spring, was best served at room temperature.

The copywriter and designer met the next week to create the image for the tweet, which was then pitched at a team meeting... The meeting includes (the social media genius), the copywriter, a designer team, and a project manager.


Then it's on to an internal review, where senior copywriters and strategists sign off on the work over the course of the following week. The post was then sent to Président Cheese and, some 45 days after conception, published on the internet for the world to see."
The world to see? This company has 100 followers on Twitter. My hernia scar has more followers.

And what was the result of this monumental whack-a-thon? This shining star of brilliance:


Can you imagine what this would have been like if they only had 44 days?

Here's the best part.

The tweet was posted on April 30th. As of May 24th it had zero retweets and two "favorites" (I'm guessing the Président and his mother.)

I can tweet a picture of my cat's ass and get fifty times better results. On the other hand, my cat's ass looks a lot better than this incomprehensible photo.

Remarkably, the writer for Business Insider seemed to think this astounding absurdity was admirable and praiseworthy instead of being one of the most insanely wasteful and idiotic abuses of "marketing" the world has ever seen.

Kudos to the agency for pulling off this amazing scam. And to the client, all I can say is... how generous!

14 comments:

Mark Hill said...

How about a series of tweets on a theme:

I Camembert it when: people serve me cold.
I Camembert it when: people serve me too hot.
I Camembert it when: I have to play second fiddle to the wine.
Etc, etc.

Okay, not brilliant. But supports your point. It doesn't take 45 days to come up with an idea.

Mark Hill
www.markhillonline.com

mark said...

I don't think they even had that.

Bob said...

The Tweetsperts get a MONTH to come up with a line, and meanwhile, the folks working on an entire integrated campaign have (at best) a two week deadline? Like their approved tweet, idiocy is a matter of degrees.

Jason Hartley said...

It didn't take 45 days of work, obviously, it just took 45 days from concept to execution. But the article is an embarrassment to mankind. How can you report on this and not conclude that 0 retweets and 2 favorites is a complete failure? And this quote is priceless: "Social media is definitely perceived like you’re just dicking around on the internet all day, and I do a fair amount of that," said Andrew Cunningham, a Huge community lead. "But the thing is, it just never ends." It will soon, Andrew, it will soon.

Bill said...

Give the writer a little credit for deadpanning the poor results and leaving the obvious conclusion up to the readers. This article is a firebomb aimed at the social strategy industry and you're giving yourself too much credit for recognizing it.

Charlotte said...

I read the story the other day and immediately wondered how long it would take for your response. (you didn't let me down). But you forgot one big fact: they also had 200 Facebook likes. Raises the engagement and conversation factor. Duh.

Jonathan Rodgers said...

"I can tweet a picture of my cat's ass and get better results."
Bob, please don't leave this earth before I do. I need the laughs.

Phil said...

Hi Bob,
Probably not the best research, but a chart on social media that I think will amuse you as well:
http://designtaxi.com/news/365926/Infographic-Why-People-Are-Bored-Of-Social-Media/?t=1401294627031

Stephen Eichenbaum said...

If the client pays for this shit, they deserve it. By the way, have you seen Apple's new magazine campaign? It's the lifestyle drivel you predicted. Sell your shares.

Steve Hall said...

I see you still have my quote up Bob. And this commentary on the 45 day tweet just reinforces the fact you rock and are most certainly the "most entertaioning"!!

bob hoffman said...

Thanks Steve. NEVER gonna take that quote down. I've left instructions to have it engraved on my tombstone.

Level 40 Paladin said...

This post is gold. Keep up the horrible work.

DuBOISTEROUS said...

It took me 45 days to pass a gallstone but wasn't nearly as painful as this.

Jeff said...

What about this is a clever PR stunt for this unheard-of Cheese company ( let us not mention the SEO publicity).....