Woolworths 'Fresh in our Memories' campaign crisis!

In April 2015, supermarket giant Woolworths, launched an Anzac Day campaign that 'saw the company's logo and the phrase "Fresh in Our Memories" placed over the images of former soldiers' (La Canna 2015). There was also a website created regarding the campaign. The campaign had sparked many negative comments by social media from the public and became a public relations 'crisis' that needed urgent attention.

'Fresh in Our Memories' picture generator
Source: Woolworths 2015

Woolworths insisted that it was not a marketing campaign and that their aim was not to gain money through this campaign, but rather they had hoped people would use the generator to create images that could have been used in social media profile pictures. However, many people got on social media to have their say. 

Tweet against the campaign
Source: Twitter, 2015

Wilcox, Cameron, Reber & Shin (2013) explain that public relation professionals must develop communication strategies to influence the course of conflicts to the benefit of their organisations. There were only a few things that were done to cope with the crisis. Firstly, Woolworths took down the website and all the posters after the Department of Veterans' Affairs minister called their marketing team to remove it (Aubusson 2015). The PR team from Woolworths apologised but did not further comment on their short statement which expressed regret that the generator had caused offence. 

The PR company could have had better methods of communicating with the public to solve the conflict as even after the company apologised, people were still angry (Aubusson 2015). Woolworths should have taken initiative after all the negative feedback to take the campaign down instantly. Instead, they kept it up until it was asked to be taken down by a higher power. The crisis was not handled correctly and has most definitely hindered the organisation's reputation as the public are still angry (La Canna 2015). 

References:

ABC News 2015, Woolworths picture generator, digital image, viewed 6 May 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-14/woolworths-fresh-in-our-memories-campaign/6392936

Grace [SpinnerGrace] 2015, 'Good God @woolworths. I could deal with the biscuits, but the #freshinourmemories is revolting. Will it be ANZAC figurines - 2 for $20 next?' Tweet, 14 April 2015, viewed 6 May 2015, https://twitter.com/SpinnerGrace/

La Canna, X 2015, ‘Woolworths takes down Anzac "Fresh in Our Memories" website after social media backlash', ABC News, 15 April, viewed 6 May 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-14/woolworths-under-fire-for-anzac-promotion/6392848

Aubusson, K 2015, ' Woolworths' 'fresh in our memories' debacle puts spotlight on Anzac branding' The Sydney Morning Herald, April 16, viewed 6 May 2015,  http://www.smh.com.au/national/woolworths-fresh-in-our-memories-debacle-puts-spotlight-on-anzac-branding-20150415-1mltt7.html

Wilcox, D, Cameron, G, Reber, B, Shin, J 2013, Think public relations, Pearson Education, New Jersey.

The Boston Tea Party

'Public relations played a role in building support for the conflict that led to American Independence' (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber, & Shin 2013, p. 45). Samuel Adams, a famous public relations pioneer, was responsible for the orchestration of the Boston Tea Party which was considered 'the greatest and best-known publicity stunt of all time' (Wilcox et al. 2013, p. 45). This is evident by Smith (2008) who stated that the Boston Tea Party was a pseudo-event that was designed to shock and mock the British tea tax. It was also used to symbolise colonial defiance, however it left many colonists shocked and outraged. The campaign involved colonists throwing crates of tea from a British trade ship into the Boston harbour to protest unnecessary taxation on items such as tea (Boston Tea Party Historical Society 2008).

Figure 1: The Boston Tea Party
Source: WND, 2014

Although there are similar comparisons between advertising and public relations such as both communicating their messages through media, the two have a few differences.  Advertising is about paid space and broadcast time. On the other hand, public relations refers to relating to an event (Wilcox et al. 2013).  This campaign was heavily public relations orientated rather than advertising as it did not depend on paid broadcast time and space. Rather, the campaign used press agentry, as well as combining this with clever slogans and symbols to sway public opinion (Wilcox et al. 2012).


This event was a successful public relations campaign, however this campaign could not be used in today's society. This is because nowadays we conform to political correctness and this event caused a lot of controversy as it was not only planned in secrecy but the way the event itself was carried out shocked society which can be seen as unethical (Smith 2008).

References:

Boston Tea Party Historical Society 2008, The full description of the events, viewed 23 March 2015, http://www.boston-tea-party.org/in-depth.html

Wilcox, D, Cameron, G, Reber, B, Shin, J 2013, Think public relations, Pearson Education,  New Jersey.

WND 2014, Boston tea party painting currier, digital image, viewed 23 March 2015, http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/new-irs-rules-would-scuttle-tea-parties/boston-tea-party-painting-currier/

Smith, R.D 2008, Public relations history, viewed 23 March 2015, Public relations history, viewed 23 March 2015, http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415994224/pioneersinpublicrelations.asp