Bleach: A bigger message than cleaning?

Apple's emoji expansion was a hot topic in 2015.  New emojis were introduced, and many existing emojis got an upgrade to more lifelike and less stylized representations.  One major change introduced in the new emoji set was the inclusion, for the first time, of more racially diverse emojis.  This move was a welcome change to Apple users who comprise many different races and ethnicities.

Many brands hopped on the bandwagon after the rollout in an effort to catch some of the attention.  Clorox, however, published a tweet on its Twitter page tying in its bleach with the emojis, without stopping to think of some of the possible racial implications that might be carried with the message.

An innocent cleaning product gets caught in controversy

The backlash was swift as viewers interpreted the tweet as Clorox wanting the emojis to switch back to their previous, white-only form.  Clorox attempted to backpedal by deleting the offending tweet and following it up with another trying to explain itself, but the incident left a bad taste in the mouths of Twitter users.

Too little too late?

As businesses compete for consumers' attention on new platforms with tight deadlines, social media teams (which might be a single person) are bound to make mistakes in the learning process.  It is obvious that there is a fallibility aspect that is distinctly human in this and other gaffes.  Checks and balances that exist in more traditional marketing avenues, such as print and television, might be diminished or even non-existent in the social media world, where speed is key, and topics are irrelevant overnight.  Social media marketers must walk a fine line between what grabs attention and what could be misconstrued as distasteful.  Most importantly, it must be consistent with a brand's message and reputation.  Clorox is an older, more traditional brand not known for being edgy, so this ambiguous Twitter activity was obviously a failure.