Walmart’s Fat Crisis

It is no secret that a crisis spreads like wildfire, and even more so that social media is heightened in todays world. Most of our news comes from an online source, rather it be a news media outlet, social media outlet, or an email. For this reason millions of people can become educated quickly on a companies crisis, and maybe even more the company does. As stated in the book by Dr. Luttrell, 50 percent of communications professionals believe that organizations are not adequately prepared for a crisis. Our favorite supermarket, Walmart is under fire for having “fat girl Halloween costumes” available this 2014 Halloween season.

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/walmartcom-why-do-you-have-section-called-fat-girl-costumes-161025

Let me just start with, not only is this a crisis but a hot social topic too. Walmart fell very short on the barging shopping this time. First, I really don’t know where to start because I have so many different thoughts with this topic but yes those women are so fat, I’m surprised they fit on one page. (kidding) Really Walmart, fat girl costumes was the best you could come up with. Put aside from this outrageous concept was the way they handled it. This is an example of what not to do in crisis management, ever.

What I found so appalling was the fact that Walmart, themselves put this up on their site. This wasn’t a rude jokester just getting a good laugh. Thankfully Walmart did take down the fat girl part of their line but the apology was lagging in every way. The comments that came from a spokesperson that made an auto-saved answer. Walmart also ate a slice of humble pie saying, “This never should have been on our site,” a company spokesperson said. “It is unacceptable and we apologize.” The representative also said Wal-Mart was working to ensure that a goof up like this “would never happen again.” After the standard and heartless apology, they edited they site to say plus size costumes. I guess that will do.

Lets check over their crisis management plan with the five most important stages of crisis management stated in the book:

1. Prepare in advance

2. Isolate the incidence

3. Evaluate the impact

4. Mitigates the crisis

5. Learn from the crisis

After looking over this list, I am not to impressed with their action plan. This was overly insensitive for so many people and Walmart as a company acted like this was no big deal at all. I am personally not a large fan of Walmart but this was really the icing on the cake for me. I hope that Walmart can learn from this experience and think before they act. Crisis management can either help a company grow or break them. The effects can be lasting such as rise in media inquiries, flurry of comments on social media, drop in sales, and vulnerability of personal, societal, and economic conditions. Quick actions is the best practice to stay ahead of the crisis spiraling out of control.

http://manbitesdigital.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/crisis_management1.jpg

Tell Me You Saw That Photo!

http://technicalseo.blogspot.com/2012/11/top-document-sharing-sites-list.html.html

Right in the beginning of Chapter 7, Dr Luttrell says, “visual content allowing for companies to show, not tell, about their brands, business, and story. I really love this quote because this really sums up how pictures have added that visual pieces that most people need in order to be more informed, loyal, and active with a company. As i was thinking about pictures, it made me realize that they have both a positive and negative side, but yet this could be good either way. The evolution of pictures allows us to do things we were never capable of doing before.

Most people have heard the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I truly believe that. In the modern day of social media, most companies have multiple outlets to reach their consumer. Most companies have Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to share whats happening in the company or interact with customers. The new trend that is happening with companies is that they are picking up on social media sites that are only focused on pictures. The two main sites that companies use to connect on strictly a visual level is Instagram and Flickr, but lets not forget everyones favorite obsession Pinterest. Lets be honest here, most don’t want to admit it but we spend hours on either one of these sites or all of them. Not only is it for personal use but also but for companies as well. This is such an important tool for branding and making a personal impression on your consumer. These sites allow for customers to share things about the company and make a connection. These connections can be made from consumer to consumer about a product, consumer to company, or company to consumer.

Like all good things, there is a dark side. Photo sharing can have its ups and downs for both personal use and company use. But is there a clear argument about whats good and whats bad? As we have talked about in class, with praise comes criticism and that can shine through on photos. When photos are posted to a company site, they are mostly going to be something positive or innovative about whats happening in the company. Then again there are those few instances where trouble arises throughout a company and that could be posted on such sites as Instagram or Flickr. Some issues need to be brought to the surface, and pictures can help the situation or hinder it. All around though, I have come to the conclusion that pictures are one of the most important aspects for a company and an individual to connect.

http://imgfave.com/view/1558026

I think its truly amazing how much pictures effect a company, and how it has evolved over such a short period of time. I don’t even remember the dinosaur days of companies handing out brochures to people to get a better visual look at their company, for a wide variety of things. Seriously, now that I think about it, I don’t think I have ever received a brochure in my 20 years, have you? The magic of a photo is that anyone can take a moment in time, freeze it and use to their endless possibilities. Its a beautiful thing.