When social media goes awry: Dunkin’ Donuts is giving away iced coffee, but not everywhere
Today is Dunkin’ Donuts’ much ballyhooed free iced coffee day, the kind of promotion that generally creates a lot of positive feedback in fans both online and off.
However, it seems today’s free iced coffee day has gone over poorly in a lot of markets, if the company’s Facebook wall is any indication. Even in the past twenty minutes, the feed has become clogged with angry customers who just want a free iced coffee, damnit. (It does seem pretty short-sighted to advertise the promotion nationally but only offer it in a handful of markets.)
Here’s what angry customers are Facebooking at the beloved coffee and donuts brand:
Yeah what happened? Went to Dunks this morning supposed to be free Iced Coffee Day.. DENIED!!! What’s up with that?
no free ice coffee in massachusetts? WTF? didn’t dunkin donuts START in massachusetts?? booooooooo. i’m going to honey dew. and “unliking” dunkin donuts.
No free iced coffee in MA??? Are you kidding me? I just sent my mom to DD for the free iced coffee. ?
What happened to free iced coffee day? You advertised and everything…. you LIED
This promotion is a great example of how social media can detract from a company’s promotional efforts through sites like Facebook and Twitter. Instead of a bunch of happy customers (there were far more angry than satisfied comments on Facebook) tweeting about their free coffees, Dunkin’ Donuts’ Facebook wall has turned into a DnD bashfest because so many people weren’t able to get the free iced coffee advertised by the brand. (Do you really have to be a “social media rockstar” to anticipate that if the majority of customers can’t get something cool you’ve advertised, there will be loud backlash?)
If you’re still hoping to get your hot little hands on a free iced coffee, there’s a list of participating markets here. (Bear in mind that customers are reporting being denied a freebie even in those areas.) And hopefully Dunkin’ Donuts will learn from the way this promotion backfired that if they’re going to talk about free coffee, they’d better bring some for the whole class.
