Skip to content
PromoVeritas
PromoVeritas
Contact Us
PromoVeritas
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do and Why
  • Our Work
  • News
  • Join the Team
  • Contact

Paperchase promotion causes public outcry

PromoVeritas November 21, 2017

Paperchase bowed to public pressure following social media criticism of a promotion it ran in the Daily Mail, so how carefully should brands tread when it comes to partnerships?

The retail chain ran a free Christmas gift-wrap offer in a recent Saturday edition of the Daily Mail. Stop Funding Hate is a group that seeks to apply pressure on what they call sensationalist newspapers such as The Sun and the Daily Mail, by “getting Britain’s best loved brands to pull their advertising” from these titles. Using social media, the group managed to create a huge commotion and by Monday morning Paperchase responded with an apologetic Tweet promising to never do it again. The Daily Mail retorted “it is deeply worrying that Paperchase should have allowed itself to be bullied into apologising” and public opinion has been divided over the affair. Many Paperchase followers applauded their decision whilst other commentators thought it weak and that it could spell financial disaster for the retailer. The backlash even reached BBC’s Newsnight where Sarah Baxter, the Deputy Editor of the Sunday Times described the situation as “…a company being bullied by a small group of social media trolls”.

There is no doubt that the promotion was well intended and the readership of the Daily Mail was probably right for the offer. However increasingly small minority groups have proved capable of inflicting significant damage to a brand reputation through their power to communicate negative messages effectively. There are frequent calls to boycott many brands for ethical or environmental reasons – for instance the BBC dropped Crufts from its airtime after PETA highlighted the serious health issues of the dogs involved. Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus dropped Ivanka Trump’s fashion line because of the anti-Trump #GrabYourWallet campaign (there are 99 other companies on their list) and Ben & Jerry’s are amongst numerous brands boycotted by the Arab inspired BDS movement because of the brands positive relations with Israel.  Even FedEx have been boycotted over their sponsorship of the Washington Redskins because of the clubs racially offensive name. Earlier this year, Pepsi caused a media sensation with TV advert featuring Kendal Jenner, supposedly making peace with both sides of an apparently ugly dispute that was deemed insensitive to the #blacklivesmatter movement. They were forced into making a grovelling apology.

So what can we learn?

The lesson here is that whilst brands need to seriously consider the ramifications of connecting with certain brands you simply can’t please everyone, all of the time, so the best advice is to plan for criticism. But sometimes it can do wonders for a brand’s reputation to act as a trailblazer or as a company ‘to do the right thing’ even in the face of certain public interest groups. There is no accounting for the public!

The main thing to consider is that all marketing campaigns have the potential to go viral in a bad way so disaster check everything you do first. Use market research, grill your friends or simply ask us – PromoVeritas have over fifteen years of experience in advising brands on best practices and spotting potential catastrophes in the planning stages. To find out more about how we can help you shape and implement successful campaigns and promotions call us on +44 203 325 6000 or email info@promoveritas.com.

« Why Your Next Campaign should include User Generated Content PromoVeritas become DMA member »

Call us on 0203 325 6000 to find out how we can help your promotion

+44 (0)203 325 6000
info@promoveritas.com
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do and Why
  • Our Work
  • News
  • Join the Team
  • Contact
Proud members of ISO-27001 Accredited Proud members of
Run it Right.
© 2023 PromoVeritas
Privacy Policy Terms of Service Website Terms & Conditions Cookies Policy
We use cookies on our website. All the cookies we use can be viewed using the Cookie Settings button. By clicking “ACCEPT” you consent to the use of all cookies. You cannot disable our essential cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Read More
ACCEPTCookie settings
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Essential
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

CookieTypeDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary011 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-non-necessary011 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Non Necessary".
viewed_cookie_policy011 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Non Essential

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

CookieTypeDurationDescription
_ga01 yearThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, camapign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assigns a randoly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_UA-15728851-301 minuteThis is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It appears to be a variation of the _gat cookie which is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites.
_gid01 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
bcookie01 yearThis cookie is set by linkedIn. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page.
bscookie11 year
csrftoken011 monthsThis cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks
GPS030 minutesThis cookie is set by Youtube and registers a unique ID for tracking users based on their geographical location
IDE11 yearUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
ig_did11 year
ig_nrcb01 year
lang0This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website.
li_sugr02 months
lidc01 dayThis cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing.
lissc01 year
mid01 yearThe cookie is set by Instagram. The cookie is used to distinguish users and to show relevant content, for better user experience and security.
test_cookie011 months
u02 months
UserMatchHistory01 month
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE15 monthsThis cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.
YSC1This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.
Save & Accept