Comments on: “This Ain’t Flint”: Ain’t a campaign, but it ain’t social media at work, either.

By: Kate Jonston

Kate Jonston — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:04:27 +0000

hi !
Social media was supposed to replace email as a communications tool. It’s been said that “email is for staying in touch with old people.” (And by that they mean anyone who watched Seinfeld during its original run.) And yet, almost every social media site relies on emails to keep their community up-to-date. Let’s face it: it’s easier to ignore a Twitter feed or a status update than it is to ignore an email. Even if you don’t read the email you still have to take the action of deleting it.

Kate Jonston
My blog: Alfred Dunner Clothes

By: Katie Smith

Katie Smith — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:03:47 +0000

I agree with what you have said that email is not a social media. It’s true that it existed even before facebook and twitter; for me I consider as a way of communication rather a social media.

Katie Smith
My Blog:Watch-Ray-J-Video

By: Jamie Favreau

Jamie Favreau — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:54:04 +0000

Wow… I guess what does Flint in the middle of a recession have to do with Ottawa today. Why pick on automakers? I don’t understand that aspect either.

I agree with how you recommend to them to fix the campaign. Did you ever find out why they chose Flint in the first place?

The Provence is having trouble with the auto industry and this may not be Ottawa but remind them their hockey team isn’t in the playoffs and cutting off additional revenue from tourism.

I am all over the board on this. I loved your dissection of the problem though very good analysis and strategy to fix it. Isn’t bad press better than no press at all?

By: This ain’t an apology, but I ain’t calling for its removal. | that damn redhead

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:46:10 +0000

[...] Ari Herzog: I never saw “Canadian Bacon” so I can’t relate to the analogies you make, so may I… [...]

By: that damn redhead

that damn redhead — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:56:27 +0000

@Ari Thank you. You reiterated in many fewer words the very point I was trying to make to the people who insisted that it was “definitely social media at work.” Um, not at all.

By: Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:55:20 +0000

I never saw "Canadian Bacon" so I can't relate to the analogies you make, so may I suggest that your entire commentary has nothing to do with social media. There's nothing "social" about the campaign. A company decided to commit an act, they left teasers through advertising, and then they acted. The result, good or bad, is the result. Either this--all of this--is an intended consequence of their actions, or it's not. Either way, you could have written this 10 years ago. Ari Herzog’s last blog post..Guest Interview with Stoya: Sex Starlet Talks Back

By: Jesse Dangerously

Jesse Dangerously — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:39:19 +0000

I think your analysis is great. If one wished to exhaustively list the things they got wrong, from an Ottawan perspective one might also include the fact that certain sectors in the city are hemorrhaging jobs and things are getting really tight all over and yes we god damn are feeling the recession, no matter how hard we ignore all information media and people who are experiencing things. There really is not one aspect of the message that does not suck. Jesse Dangerously’s last blog post..Jesse Dangerously @ SXSW

By: that damn redhead

that damn redhead — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:09:00 +0000

@Laurie There is no argument that the content is awful, I thought that went without saying. That’s included in my criticism that this thing is awful in every way. Perhaps I should have focused more on that, but I was trying to focus more on the tech/social media side … they failed to provide the appropriate tools to share, they bragged about their “proven media strategies” (proven to what – piss people off?) with no substance, what they did provide was basically pointless. That some folks found out about it through Facebook was, IMHO, almost irrelevant, because if FB did not exist, they’d have found out about it through email, and they would have still spammed, and gotten the same outcome. I think I didn’t focus on the content as much because well, everybody else seemed to be and I thought it was obvious given the emotional response I had seen. I hope I was able to leave my feelings out of this and remain objective.

By: Laurie Slade

Laurie Slade — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:50:30 +0000

Regardless of the inept use of social media tools, the CONTENT is the problem. It is neither interesting or compelling. The “campaign” is confusing and offensive. The content is offensive to Flint, Michigan, the auto industry and the United States.

Instead of just focusing on the good aspects of Ottawa, the “campaign’s” focus is on what they don’t want Ottawa to be. If you believe in the law of attraction, they are attracting the wrong thing.

The only way in which this “campaign” is engaging is that it is causing people to engage in hostility toward the very city to which it is supposed to be drawing admiration. Hmm. Backfire is exactly what happened in this case. Great analysis, Stacy.