Scottish PR Agency Gives Their Take on Easter Row

Our Scottish PR agency tells what people’s perception and the social media narrative can do to your business and customers.

SOCIAL media can be an unforgiving beast – as customers, pals and people you once met while on holiday wantonly share posts they misconstrue or share links to articles they didn’t click.

This is something confectionery giants Cadbury found to its cost as the news that its Easter eggs were suitable for a halal diet led some social media pundits to condemn it for “abandoning Christianity.”

Tie into this the fact that – like most chocolate eggs made by most companies for decades – its various packages were labelled as ‘chocolate eggs’ (rather than featuring the Christian festival more prominently).

Combine these ingredients and you have a recipe for outrage that, like a lot of its predecessors, made no sense to most onlookers.

Now even the Prime Minister has got involved, branding Cadbury and the National Trust as ‘ridiculous’ for not including Easter in the names of various egg-hunts. This in spite of the fact that Cadbury had used Easter quite prominently on its website and promotional materials.

Perhaps the biggest irony is that chocolate is halal by its very nature. Indeed, Cadbury’s products have been halal from year dot. No changes were required because Dairy Milk has always been an inclusive treat. So here are some of our thoughts on the whole fiasco from a PR point of view.

You can’t please everybody all the time
To most people the suitability of chocolate products for people of different faiths is not a big deal because being nice to other people is, well, nice.
Who cares if Cadbury were being inclusive, intentionally or not?
What this does demonstrate is that you will also find some people willing to get angry at your business regardless of the issue.

Will the change do you good?
In this case, Cadbury hadn’t really done any rebranding – but they got it in the neck anyway. If that doesn’t underline the potential for ire, who knows what will? We’ve worked with clients looking to change names, change venues and change personalities, and it can be a tricky thing to handle.

Looking for a fresh start? A name change isn’t the only thing that can brighten up your business and revitalise your customer base. Take a look at our restoration hub and see how reinvigorating your media presence can make a real difference.

As with any name change you might lose recognition – a huge part of selling your product or services.
On top of this some people hold brand identities surprisingly close to their hearts. Woe betide you for making the switch to ‘Starburst’ or updating the Google logo!
Keep an eye on how your brand is faring and be sure that shaking things up will be a positive step.

Have a sense of humour
One of the positive aspects of maddening social media reactions to innocuous non-stories is a plethora of lampooning twitter accounts and inevitable spoof news articles blossoming from every side.
The “Non-denominational Spring holiday cocoa based ovoid” fiasco has been a great seam of comedy for would-be social media satirists. Why not cash in on the potential good vibes?
Maybe steer clear of the pottier mouthed sources of mirth – but having a sideways look at yourself can be healthy for your point-of-view and the receptiveness of those engaging with you.

Help is at hand
The headline lesson to learn from Cadbury’s melted mess is the need to consider your options carefully. If you don’t believe us check out the confectioner’s twitter feed to see the barrage of questions that were fired at the firm.
Taking on a PR agency can make a world of difference in organising and reacting to whatever the social media sphere throws at you.
Not only does it leave you to worry about running your business effectively it gives you feet on the ground and fingers on keyboards ready to take action, whether it’s through clarifications or through jokes.