8 Cringey Brand Fails on Social Media

8 brand fails on social media

Social media platforms provide great opportunities for customer engagement, but sometimes, brands get attention for the wrong reasons. Whether it takes the form of accusations of sexism, economic bias or racism, businesses can face severe backlash for social media campaigns gone awry. Here’s a look at some epic brand fails on social media that tarnished the reputations of well-known companies and sent their cleanup crews (aka PR teams) into high gear.

1. Burger King UK tweeted “Women belong in the kitchen.” 

The original Burger King tweet, at left, lacked context on its own. The full thread, at right, explained the food chain’s intention. (Source: @BurgerKingUK/X)

Attempting to capitalize on special holidays can end up being more of a detriment to your business than an asset if handled poorly. For example, Burger King UK apparently felt confident when the company highlighted International Women’s Day on its social media content calendar in 2021. Unfortunately, the team responsible for the clickbait left the brand’s good intentions hidden in the fine print.

The company wanted the key phrase, “Women belong in the kitchen,” in their X post to raise awareness of the lack of gender diversity in the restaurant industry. In fact, Burger King UK was promoting a new scholarship program for female employees to pursue a culinary career despite the dominance of male chefs.

However, none of those good intentions stood out because they were hidden in subsequent messages. All people could focus on was the initial post stating, “Women belong in the kitchen.” It was a cheeky but highly insensitive message. Its virality was largely because it was posted on International Women’s Day — a time to champion women, not harken back to outdated stereotypes. Amid swift backlash from Twitter users, Burger King posted an apology and deleted the initial tweet. [Find out more about this incident in our look at infamous PR mistakes.]

2. Robinhood missed with its Super Bowl ad. 

After spending more than $5 million on a Super Bowl ad in 2021, Robinhood posted its high-dollar commercial to its followers on X. Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The video stated the world of finance was changing and that the company saw everyone, regardless of circumstances, as part of its targeted audience. “We are all investors” would have been a heartfelt relationship-builder — if the business wasn’t already under fire for limiting trading for average investors.

Robinhood limited trading for AMC and GameStop after a group of Reddit investors known as Wall Street Bets sparked interest in the stocks. Fending off a battle between retail traders and certain hedge funds shorting stocks, Robinhood gave the excuse that they didn’t have enough cash to support so much trading.

Customers were unsatisfied with the excuse. After the Super Bowl ad not only aired but was also posted on the company’s social media page, they guessed where the cash flow had been funneled. X exploded after the post as people responded with missives like “Criminals,” “Robinhood hates the average investor” and “Lies.”

3. Gap divided audiences with its unity call.

This post from the Gap was accompanied by a video of a sweatshirt being zipped up to reflect two sides coming together. (Source: @Gap/X)

The 2020 presidential election stoked intense feelings on both sides of the political aisle, but the day after Election Day, Gap was ready to put all the divisiveness behind them. The retailer posted a video on X of a Gap-branded sweatshirt being zipped up. The catch? Half the sweatshirt was blue and half of it was red to symbolize Democrats and Republicans coming together as one. 

The post declared, “The one thing we know, is that together, we can move forward,” with a blue heart and red heart. But after months of political vitriol that seeped into virtually every corner of society, many people that morning were far from ready to “move forward.” And they didn’t hesitate to reply saying so. The brand was called out for bothsidesism (or false balance) and tone deafness, with pointed user comments saying, “Read the room.” 

Gap, which ultimately deleted its post, admitted in a statement that the sweatshirt wasn’t actually for sale and was created only for social media. If the company was aiming to get attention with a fake product on a busy news day, mission accomplished. It just wasn’t positive attention.

4. Chase blamed customers for poor finances.

Chase’s use of a popular hashtag in this tweet backfired. (Source: @Chase/X)

Businesses can smartly take advantage of social media trends by using relevant hashtags in their posts. But those efforts can backfire if the message accompanying the hashtag doesn’t translate the way you hoped. Case in point: In 2019, Chase seemingly sought to inspire on X with a “#MondayMotivation” post. 

The text featured a fictional exchange between a person and their bank account, with the individual wondering why their balance is “so low” when they spent money on eating out and taking cabs. Social media users interpreted the post as the financial institution blaming and shaming its customers for having low income. Meanwhile, banks like Chase have long been accused of predatory behavior that helps the rich get richer while leaving the poor to continue to struggle. 

The post also demonstrated a disregard for economic factors beyond customers’ control, which Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out in a reply that sarcastically mimicked the format of Chase’s original post. The bank got the message and posted in a new tweet, “Our #MondayMotivation is to get better at #MondayMotivation tweets. Thanks for the feedback Twitter world.” Despite the apparent apology, Warren drew even more attention to the issue days later by writing a CNN op-ed calling out the company, ensuring the PR crisis wouldn’t blow over quickly.

5. Netflix’s “Cuties” trailer wasn’t cute.

The Netflix film Cuties sparked a social media firestorm for its suggestive poster and trailer. (Source: Netflix)

When a streaming service acquires a new movie, it’s standard practice for the company to create an intriguing trailer for the film and blast it out on social media. Well, Netflix got more than it bargained for in 2020 when it posted its preview for Cuties. The film had already screened at the Sundance Film Festival and had been released in France. However, the new trailer depicted a movie far more scandalous than the coming-of-age tale the film actually shows.

Countless people replied to the streamer’s X post with their horrified reactions to the trailer’s apparent sexualization of young girls, an impression that only became stronger when Netflix’s poster for the film — showing the 11-year-old characters scantily clad in suggestive poses — went viral. “#CancelNetflix” trended on social media, petitions called for the film to be removed from the platform and the director of the project, who had no say in Netflix’s marketing, revealed she received death threats due to the controversy.

Some politicians even tried to take legal action against the company. The firestorm lasted for weeks, overshadowing critical acclaim for the movie (which currently holds an 88 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and distorting the important message the film was actually trying to convey. Netflix ended up swapping out its “inappropriate artwork,” acknowledging in a statement that it was “not OK, nor was it representative” of Cuties. Still, the post with the controversial trailer remains available on X. 

6. Chick-fil-A shut down an employee advocate.

After Chick-fil-A told this employee to stop making videos, she left the company to pursue new opportunities. (@mirithesiren/TikTok)

A Chick-fil-A employee went viral on TikTok in 2024 after sharing her enthusiastic reviews of different menu items available at the popular fast food chain. The employee’s videos gained her thousands of followers, drew millions of views and drove many people to try Chick-fil-A’s food. 

In spite of that, Chick-fil-A told the budding TikTok star she had to stop making videos because its policy forbids employees from creating content about the company. Instead of partnering with the team member on a social media campaign that could have increased brand awareness and earned good PR, Chick-fil-A stuck rigidly to its policy. The company tried to shut the worker and her videos down.

The restaurant’s competitor, Shake Shack, saw the missed opportunity and quickly got in touch with the TikToker, partnering with her on videos featuring Shake Shack’s food items. Her new Shake Shack clips became a viral hit, sending her thousands of followers through the doors of their local Shake Shack, much to the chagrin of her former employers. If only Chick-fil-A realized it had a great marketing partner on staff before it was too late.

7. Bioré missed the mark on mental health.

This influencer’s Bioré ad may have been well-intentioned, but social media users found it misguided. (Source: @cecileemax/TikTok)

Most brands want to be seen as caring about their customers and the issues important to them, but entering every conversation isn’t always a good idea. Skincare company Bioré learned that in 2023. The beauty brand partnered with an influencer to promote Bioré’s pore strips during Mental Health Awareness Month. But the influencer’s video claiming to want to “strip away the stigma of anxiety” went viral for all the wrong reasons.

The influencer attended a college that was recently the site of a school shooting. Her intention was to spread awareness of mental health issues while discussing the anxiety she had suffered after the tragedy. But pairing trauma with a TikTok ad for pore strips didn’t sit right with the public, who called out both the influencer and Bioré for using a school shooting to sell skincare products.

Bioré’s social media effort got a ton of attention, but not the kind it had hoped for. Instead of positioning itself as a company that genuinely cares about mental health, it came off as a business willing to trivialize serious issues in the name of sales. In the end, Bioré and the influencer had to release public apologies. 

8. Apple appeared to crush creativity.

Apple has long been a darling of creatives of every stripe. The tech giant has consistently positioned itself as the choice for mold breakers and visionaries, most famously with its “Think Different” campaign. So it’s no surprise that its 2024 iPad Pro ad caused a stir on social media. Unfortunately, though, the conversation was criticizing, not celebrating, the brand and its new product.

The video shows a hydraulic press crushing a collection of creative tools, like musical instruments and buckets of paint. When the press lifts, it turns out that everything has been compressed into the new iPad Pro. Apple’s intended message was that its iPad can do it all, but the spectacular images of beloved creative objects being smashed to smithereens sent a different message entirely. 

Apple faced an immediate backlash on social media, with many users not only saying that the ad was offensive to creatives and their craft but also that the concept was soulless and an affront to what makes us human. In an era when many people are worried about AI technology taking over jobs and replacing human elements like creativity, the ad seemed especially tone-deaf. “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry,” Apple said in response to the negative reactions — and yet the ad remains available on the company’s YouTube channel.

Best practices to avoid brand fails on social media

Following social media marketing best practices can help you prevent fails like the ones above. These tips, backed by experts in the field, can keep your content on point so you avoid social media infamy and unnecessary bad press. 

1. Find your audience.

Just like with email marketing campaigns, you can’t succeed with a social media campaign if you don’t know who you should be targeting. Before planning your social strategy, you’ll need to identify your target audience. That means going beyond general data and getting to the core of who your customers are, what issues they face, where they spend their time online and what content they crave. Uncovering these answers will help inform what content you should create and where you should post it. 

Developing customer personas can help with this task, but remember, there are real people behind the profiles. If you view your social media efforts as opportunities to build online communities with the people who matter most, you can win ambassadors for your brand. Understand those brand ambassadors are sharing and creating content as well. To make sure your campaigns go viral for the right reasons, you must also consider your audience’s audience. 

“Most brands win by getting people talking about them,” said Tom Miner, the former head of global social media at Crocs and current managing partner and social media strategist at Gold Miner Media. “As consumers have grown increasingly weary of brands speaking at them, creating content for your audience’s audience carries several important benefits: It makes you slow down to think about your audience’s core desires (what they most want to see in your content), it lets you engineer content that helps itself get copied and shared, and it appeases modern algorithms.”

2. Choose the right social media networks.

It’s wise to secure a username for your company on every social media network to prevent any confusion down the line. But while your business should have multiple social media accounts, it’s best to focus your efforts on a few networks that make the most sense for your brand.

Consider the platforms where your audience spends the most time. If your customers aren’t inclined to scroll through Facebook, creating Facebook posts would be a waste of energy. However, part of choosing the right social media sites to use includes understanding what makes each one unique and how to best use it. Different social networks require different strategies and tailored content.

“Every social platform has distinct cultures, users, behaviors and content formats,” said Miner. “Brands can no longer afford to take a one-size-fits-all approach to social. It comes across as tone-deaf when content is not contextualized to the specific platform it appears on. This increases the chances of something getting ‘lost in translation’ between a brand and consumers.”

3. Be consistent.

Your business likely already has a brand image with a clear identity that makes your mission obvious to your audience. This aesthetic and tone should carry over onto social media. Inconsistency will only cause confusion and lead social media users to see your business as inauthentic.

“One commonly overlooked but incredibly important asset that can help avoid a brand failure is having clear social media guidelines for tone and messaging,” said Kevin Gonsalves, director of strategy at ICUC, a global social media and online community management agency. “Guidelines can align the team on a unified voice and help prevent misinterpretations and tone-deaf posts.”

You want to connect with your customers emotionally, so your guidelines should include using hashtags that resonate (and won’t offend) and only sharing reputable sources of information. Your company may already have built up trust in the marketplace, but you have to earn it again on social media by posting relevant, engaging content that aligns with your brand. [Check out these strategies for engaging your audience on social media.]

4. Create a content calendar.

While business owners and their marketing teams always have competing priorities, social media can’t be a last-minute afterthought if you want it to help your brand. Using a content calendar to plan your posts in advance and a social media management program to schedule those posts can simplify maintaining an active social media presence.

“You set the expectation for your audience,” said Lexi Floyd-Nye, social media director at Aqua Marketing & Communications. “Make sure you ‘show up’ for them consistently by publishing a consistent stream of content.”

Additionally, maintaining a content calendar keeps team-wide awareness of what’s being posted and when. This can keep you from inadvertently posting something inappropriate on a holiday. That would definitely be a brand fail.

Social media management tools can also help you figure out the best paid-versus-organic social media strategy and measure the results of your efforts.

5. Use social listening.

Creating strong content is essential, but you can’t do it in a vacuum. For your social media marketing campaigns to be successful — and to avoid blunders like the ones above — you need to monitor mentions of your brand and track social media trends by looking at competitor feeds, relevant keywords and trending hashtags.

Using social listening tools to analyze posts from other accounts (both rivals and consumers) can help you build your social calendar, determine trends and deepen your relationship with customers by providing more of the kind of content they want to see. You should also reply to mentions, answer questions and provide encouraging comments as much as possible. 

“If you’re not plugged into the daily vibes, conversations and emotional state of the internet, you’re increasing the chances of creating mishaps,” said Miner. 

6. Know when to stay on the sidelines.

Maintaining an active presence on social media doesn’t mean you need to comment on every single trend or current event. Avoid posting about controversial topics, especially ones that have nothing to do with your brand. Even messages that seem innocuous can cause serious damage if people perceive your efforts as inauthentic or intrusive.

“When in doubt, sit it out,” recommended Miner. “If your brand is about to say or do something that feels like it’s going to blow up in its face, listen to that intuition. The risk-reward balance is out of whack, and you’ll be better served by being thoughtful than rushing into something.”

This also applies to active social media campaigns. The world moves fast and what might seem appropriate or relevant one day can quickly be seen as problematic the next. When that happens, take action to avoid becoming a negative part of the conversation.

“(That) might include pausing posts if a related topic becomes controversial or revisiting scheduled content if it no longer aligns with current events,” said Gonsalves.

7.  Encourage engagement.

An appealing brand on social media is one that interacts with its followers instead of posting in a silo. Regularly ask your customers to comment on what they do and don’t like, what pain points they’re facing and how your company can improve. You might develop a new product, collect essential data or enhance your business processes by soliciting this feedback.

Stay on top of interactions via social media management tools and let your customers know their voices are being heard. Remember, you’re trying to create conversations, and that requires a back-and-forth. 

“This is where community management comes in,” said Floyd-Nye. “Respond to comments and messages promptly and interact with your audience regularly and consistently.” 

You can also foster engagement by asking your followers for content requests or even encouraging them to create their own content using your brand’s likeness and products. User-generated content (UGC) is a great way to get positive, free publicity for your company. Just be sure to vet the identities of those who send in submissions to avoid posting something that can damage your brand’s reputation.

8. Have a crisis plan.

Inevitably, something will go wrong at some point. How your business responds on social media can make all the difference.

“Brands need to have a plan in place for handling crises,” said Stefanie Magness, publicity and brand exposure expert at Elevate U PR. “Social media was rocked when a customer was forcibly removed from an overbooked flight by United Airlines. Their poor communication and slow response, which intensified the negative reaction, made it a textbook example of how not to handle a crisis.”

Preparing for when things go wrong is essential. A written plan to manage a crisis situation will allow your team to respond quickly and effectively so things don’t spiral out of control online. An important part of that strategy should include being upfront about any mistakes and offering an apology. 

“When a post causes a backlash, be transparent about your mistake,” Gonsalves advised. “A simple ‘We missed up, and we’re sorry’ message goes a long way. Making your apology direct and acknowledging specific mistakes is important to rebuilding trust with your followers.”

9. Edit, and then edit again.

If you’ve learned anything from the above social media scandals, it should be that social media can be a fast-paced daily gamble and can’t be taken lightly. Cancel culture is ready and waiting to exercise fatal keystrokes if you make a seemingly unforgivable mistake with a post.

To prevent a brand fail on social media, consider the following before you hit the “publish” button on a post.

• Is the message personal or business-related? Try to keep company messaging free of personal opinion.
• Who is your target audience? Will the message resonate with your followers?
• Could the wording or image be interpreted differently? The more opinions you can collect before publishing, the better. After all, you can’t turn back time after a post has gone live.

Follow these additional guidelines for extra safety.

• Keep it PG. Stay family-friendly to avoid turning people off.
• Don’t openly support causes, partnerships, other businesses or followers unless you’re willing to defend your position — and stake your company’s reputation if things go south.
• Always, always, always check your spelling and grammar.
• Obtain written permission when using media that wasn’t created by your business.
• Before adding a custom hashtag to campaigns, research the hashtag to ensure you’re the first to use it. For existing hashtags, verify the concept is relevant to your brand and makes sense with your post.

You can skyrocket to online success and boost your business using the right social networks, publishing tools and creative content, as long as you make sure all your efforts are designed to strengthen your company’s reputation and don’t risk damaging your brand. Companies like Burger King, Chase, Netflix, Chick-fil-A and Bioré all learned this the hard way. Don’t make the same mistakes.