The Power of the Social Consumer

GIANTS KNEEL TOA TWEET: WHEN SOCIAL CONSUMERS GO VIRAL LAST DECEMBER, DIET COKE FIENDS TOOK TO TWITTER AND FACEB0OK WHEN THEY MISTO0OK COKE CLASSIC'S WHITE HOL IDAY CAN FOR DIET. THOUSANDS OF TWEETS CALLED OUT COKE'S "TREASON" AND THREATENED BOYCOTT OF THE WWF SPONSORED CANS THAT FEATURED POLAR BEARS, COKE- IN - PAW, LO UNGING IN THE SNOW. WHEN THE RAGE WENT VIRAL, THE SODA GIANT RECALLED 1.4 BILLION HOLIDAY CANS. CHECK OUT THE SOCI AL CUSTOMER VICTORIES THAT KEEP COMPANIES LIVING IN FEAR OF TODAY'S ANGRY CUSTOMER: BANK OF AMERICA Bank of America IN SEPTEMBER, BANK OF 1234-456-7890-1234 AMERICA ANNOUNCED A MONTHLY $ 5 DEBIT CARD FEE. JOHN DOE 07/2014 THE ANNOUNCEMENT CAME DURING $45 BILLION BAILOUT. OWS PROTESTS OVER THE BANK'S BIG BANK BOYCOTTS GO VIRAL: ON OCT. 1ST, 22 YR OLD MOLLY KATCHPOLE WROTE A CHANGE.ORG PETITION AGAINST THE FEE. MOLLY'S PETITION REACHED change .org 300,000 SIGNATURES IN 6 DAYS. THAT'S 2X THE TOTAL SIGNATURES OF THE SITE'S FAMOUS PETITION FOR CHINA TO FREE THE IMPRISONED DISSIDENT ARTIST AI WEI WEI, GUY FAWKES FAN, KRISTIN CHRISTIAN DECLARED NOV. 5TH "BANK TRANSFER DAY" ON FACEBOOK. THE FACEB0OK EVENT, “BANK TRANSFER DAY," ATTRACTED 81,900 RSVPS. THAT'S MORE THAN 2X THE 38,000 “LIKES" ON THE "OCCUPY L.A," FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE. IN THE MONTH AFTER BANK TRANSFER DAY, U.S. CREDIT UNIONS ENROLLED $4.5 BILLION IN NEW ACCOUNTS. TRANSFERS DROVE THE NUMBER 0F U.S. CREDIT UNION ACCOUNTS UP 50% NOVEMBER 1ST BANK OF AMERICA AND THREE OTHER MAJOR BANKS DROPPE D DEBIT CARD FEES. GODADDY GO Dady.com THE WEBHOST TO 45 MILLION SOPA DOMAINS, GODADDY SUPPORTED SOPA. THE ONLINE PIRACY BILL THREATENS THE FREEDOM OF GODADDY'S OWN CLIENTS. SOCIAL MEDIA SITES REVOLT: REDDIT USER, SELFPRODIGY, PROCLAIMED DEC. 29TH "TRANSFER YOUR DOMAIN DAY". USERS PLEDGED TO MOVE 82,000 DOMAIN NAMES TO COMPETING WEBHOSTS. "WE WILL MOVE OUR 1,000 DOMAINS OFF @GODADDY UNLESS YOU DROP SUPPORT OF SOPA. WE LOVE YOU GUYS, BUT #SOPA - IS - CANCER TO THE FREE WEB." BEN HUH CEO OF CHEEZBURGER JIMMY WALES TWEETED WIKIPEDIA WAS ALSO "PROUDLY" LEAVING GODADDY. 24 HOURS AFTER WIKIPEDIA THREATENED BOYCOTT, GODADDY'S CEO REVOKED SUPPORT OF SOPA. 3 NETFLIX NETFLIX SPLIT ITS $7.99 UNLIMITED STREAMING AND $7.99 NETFLIX DVD SERVICES BETWEEN MONTH 2 WEBSITES REQUIRING SEPARATE SUBSCRIPTIONS. NETFLIK $7.99 MONTH STREAMING FOR $7.99/MOS. $11.99 Qwikster MONTH DVD - BY - MAIL $11.99/MOS. NETFLIX USERS TAKE TO TWITTER: Qwikster LAUNCHED 96,092 TWEETS. 77% CONDEMNED NETFLIX'S SPLIT. ( 74,058 TWEETS) 21% MOCKED NETFLIX FOR THE FOUL TEENAGER WHO BEAT THEM TO THE @QWIKSTER TWITTER HANDLE. (20, 217 TWEETS) JASON CASTILLO AND HIS PROFILE PHOTO OF A POT- SMOKING ELMO WERE THE FACE OF @QWIKSTER. 2% WERE POSITIVE RESPONSES TO P.R. ATTEMPTS THAT EXPANDED ONLINE STREAMING. (1,817 TWEETS) WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE QWIKSTER ANNOUNCEMENT, NETFLIX'S STOCK PRICE FELL 60%. THE NETFLIX SPLIT RAISED AVERAGE SUBSCRIPTION PRICES 60%. OCTOBER 1ST THE NETFLIX CEO NIXED QWIKSTER AND EMAILED MILLIONS OF SUBSCRIBERS A PERSONAL APOLOGY. ARMANI & VERSACE ITALIAN F ASHION GIANTS 1 SELL DENIM TREATED WITH CHEMICALS THAT POISONED A THE LUNGS OF 5,000 do d'a d'a a'd 5000 ds d'e d'e TURKISH DENIM WORKERS. $$ ARMANI'S SAND-BLASTED JEANS COST NEARLY TWICE THE MONTHLY SALARY OF A DENIM WORKER IN ANKARA., ARMANI COLLEZIONI DISTRESSED JEANS: $325 $325 $170 ANKARA DENIM WORKER: $170/MONTH FASHION BLOGGER ACTIVISM: IN MAY, A REPORT ON DESIGNER DENIM AND SILICOSIS- POISONING WENT VIRAL. THE REPORI REVEALS TIN 2 TURKISH DENIM WORKERS SHOW SYMPTOMS OF THE INCURABLE DISEASE AFTER MONTHS O F INHALING THE SOFTENER. (VICTIMS OF SILICA- POISONING HAVE USUALLY SPENT 20- 30 YEARS MINING. ) JUNE 7 AFTER HUNDREDS OF ANGRY POSTS, VERSACE EDITED ITS FACEBOOK WALL AND DISABLED PUBLIC POSTING. BY JULY, 38,000 VE CE SIGNED THE ONLINE PETITION AGAINST ITALIAN D ESIGNERS' FAILURE TO BOYCOTT SAND BLASTED DENIM. WITHIN A MONTH, ARMANI & VERSACE PUBLICLY CONDEMNED AND BANNED SAND-BLASTED DENIM FROM THEIR LINES. CONSUMER ACTIVISM IN THE AGE OF TWITTER IS BOTH GUERRILLA AND GLOBAL AND COMPANIES ARE STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP: 70% OF COMPLAINTIS TWEETED AT SPECIFIC BRANDS AND COMPANIES GO UNANSWERED. I N THE RACE TO EXPLOII INFINITE AND INSTANT SOCIAL MEDIA, COMPANIES MAY ALWAYS PLAY DEFENSE TO THE POWERFUL NETWORKS OF THEIR ANGRIEST CUSTOMERS. END Brought to you by FRUGAL DAD SOURCES: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/12/05/coke-pulls-polar-bear-cans-after-customer-confusion/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yvette-kantrow/molly-katchpole-bank-of-america_b_1088881.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/bank-of-american-drops-debit-card-fee/2011/11/01/glQADvugcM_story.html http://www.change.org/victories http://mashable.com/2011/11/05/bank-transfer-day-on-facebook/ http://kenburridge.com/top-30-ows-regional-occupations/1808 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Transfer_Day http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yvette-kantrow/molly-katchpole-bank-of-america_b_1088881.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Daddy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Daddy http://godaddyboycott.org/ http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/12/22/cheezburger-ceo-threatens-to-yank-1000-domains-from-godaddy-over-sopa-support/ https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/23/go-daddy-anti-sopa/ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393240,00.asp http://www.banyanbranch.com/social-blog/analyzing-the-buzz-netflix-qwikster/ http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/10/25/netflix-rage/ http://www.armani.com/us/giorgioarmani/women/denim?gclid=CJqxmlPdzKOCFQSFhwodIHO4fwatp=31763 http://www.cleanclothes.org/urgent-actions/sandblasting http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/armani-collezioni-distressed-jeans-solid-dark-grey-wash/3262022 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid-438&n=jean-blasting-workers-protest-for-rights-2010-12-20 http://mashable.com/2011/07/06/versace-facebook-protest/ http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/armani-bans-sandblasting http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/armani-bans-sandblasting http://www.cleanclothes.org/resources/ccc/working-conditions/information-on-sandblasting 2. 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