Walmart's Facebook Campaign Backfires

July 11th, 2012 / Comments (1)

Trying to promote Energy Sheets – "the caffeine-infused approximate of Listerine strips" – Walmart offered to send rapper Pitbull to the store gathering the most likes.

Unfortunately for Pitbull and Walmart bloggers at Something Awful had an idea for what store they'd like to see Pitbull at: Walmart store #2711 in the remote Kodiak Alaska.

Complete story at Mashable.

(via Brian Allen.)

Comments

I couldn't disagree more - this didn't backfire. (Please note that I refuse to say "viral").

I can guarantee you that many of us would have never noticed any Walmart facebook contest if it weren't for this level of jackassery.

Feels like a winning story for everyone:
* Big brand gets lots of headlines about a harmless prank

* The cheezeball rapper plays along with the gag and gets lots of headlines

* Tiny town gets put on the map and will end up with a big event that they would have never been able to do otherwise

No one was hurt, no one looks like a jerk, and I bet they've had way more engagement in the contest than ever expected.

Menacing Sparrow (not verified)
July 12th, 2012, 11:56am

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