Three food brands are using witty tweets to cook up more buzz
By: Hayley Grossman, Public Relations Manager at Morris Marketing Group
Want to know how to brighten up your feed and avoid the onslaught of heavy news negativity? In a world full of tragedy and heartbreak, there are many who look for humorous twitter accounts to perk up their day and not through comedic posts but thru brands…and not just any brands either! Surprisingly, they are brands of long-lasting companies that are using their creative minds to revive their brand’s identity and also feed their audience… literally and physically.
Hungry for more information? While there are many food companies that are stepping up their twitter game, we are sharing the online creativity of three food companies that are using their clever and crafty humor to refresh their image so they can be cookin’ and good lookin’. Yes, we went there with the puns.
- Moon Pie?
Remember the Solar Eclipse buzz last August? We found a tweet from “Moon Pie” that went viral. Our first thought was, “Moon Pie? That’s a name we hadn’t heard in a while and do retailers even carry them anymore?”
Photo Credit: BuzzFeed
It was quickly evident to us that Moon Pies weren’t outdated or only popular with an older audience. As evidenced by this post, they were officially brilliant in our moon-shaped eyes. The twitter account of the 100-year-old brand currently has over 243,000 followers. With our heart eye emojis on, we immediately clicked on “follow Moon Pie” on their twitter profile and added to our feed.
Discovering how funny this tweet was, we began to scroll through more tweets… and more… and more and just couldn’t stop! They are fun, funny and engaging!
Photo Credit: BuzzFeed
We just had to find out who was behind this clever dessert account and while doing so we discovered that many others were doing the same detective work. It was getting huge pick up in the media.
According to BuzzFeed, the legend behind this account is 26-year-old Patrick Wells from Knoxville, Tennessee.
The 26-year-old told BuzzFeed News, “I’ve been having a lot of fun just developing this quirky, unique voice for a cult brand that had a much older fan base. The more bizarre I get, the better. […] It’s this totally wild new way of engaging with people who just love to laugh or open up and be vulnerable with a brand,” he said. “And we’re plugged in. We’re answering in the off hours. We’re having a lot of fun being ourselves but also these personalities.”
The fun and hard work paid off. After the Hostess Social Eclipse tweet, Fast Company reported that Moon Pie had to shut down the entire factory due to high demand. They were out of supplies and had to halt production. President Dooley Tombras of advertising firm The Tombras Group, reported Moon Pie’s sales were up 17% after that tweet, “And this is a brand that’s had no new product innovation, no significant distribution increase, and no discounting going on. And there’s no TV advertising. So, all of these increases can be attributed to what we’ve been doing on social media.”
Why this works:
Moon Pie’s tweets are coming from an authentic voice and written as if Moon Pie was actually speaking. This type of strategy allows the brand to build a relationship with the consumers, engage and start a conversation, as well as make the consumers feel like they are a friend. Moon Pie makes a 100-year-old brand relevant to today’s market.
BuzzFeed highlights that Moon Pie’s tweets “remind us of the simple pleasures in life and how just damn amazing this crazy internet world can be.”
Moon Pie has also developed a flirty relationship with a similar brand for an older audience, Wendy’s. This leads us in to our next twitter account highlight…
Photo Credit: TIME
- Wendy’s
The snarky fast food chain has been getting a lot of praise lately for their creative, sassy attitude when it comes to their tweets.
In a time where roasting people (making fun of someone in a playful manner) is at its prime, the brand jumped in during the right time and at the right place to stay culturally relevant and ultimately get their sales up.
When you google Wendy’s, the first page is full of articles on their genius twitter, and the “savage” tweets. Additionally, if you google “roasting people”, you get links to articles discussing Wendy’s twitter account.
Photo Credit: BuzzFeed
The account has recently been most notably known for the #NuggsforCarter campaign. A twitter follower tweeted at Wendy’s asking how many retweets they need for an entire year’s supply of nuggets. The sassy twitter account responded with 18 million. The campaign spread like wild fire and sure enough, Carter now has a year’s supply of nuggets and was recognized by Twitter for the most Retweeted tweet of all time.
Photo Credit: BuzzFeed
Why this works:
For a brand that has always been questioned for the way they make their square patties, they are now seen as a business that is honest and cares about customer service. The sassy persona allows them to create tweets that tell it like it is! By creating something fun and snarky and avoiding the standard corporate verbiage, they were able to stand out from all of the other fast food chain companies that have the same menu offerings and prices.
In the quest to cultivate additional sassy relationships with other brands, last year Wendy’s noticed they didn’t receive a follow from their dear friend Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Hungry for more information on the colonel? Let’s see what they were cooking up on their twitter…
Photo Credit: ABC News
- Kentucky Fried Chicken
On October 20, 2017, a savvy social media user was casually strolling through Kentucky Fried Chicken’s (KFC) twitter feed when they noticed something interesting…
Photo Credit: ABC News
We know we promised more information and we don’t want you to get hangry, so here is what the above photo means:
They follow 6 men named Herb and five Spice Girls.
Why does this matter?
KFC’s original recipe blend is comprised of 11 herbs and spices. They were just keeping their twitter profile consistent with their brand—right?
So, what happened to the savvy social media influencer that discovered this?
Photo Credit: ABC News
According to ABC News, the tweet was “favorited” more than 484,000 times and retweeted over 200,000 times as of midday Friday. Additionally, they stated Musa Tariq, chief brand officer of Ford offered a job to whoever was behind the move.
Photo Credit: ABC News
Why this works:
It generates buzz. This discreet marketing strategy created buzz on twitter and made this newsworthy for the media. When done with creativity, Social Media and PR together are a powerful duo and if used correctly, can rapidly elevate your brand.
As we continue to evolve in the digital world, it’s important to think about how we can utilize and develop with the ever-changing social media landscape for our clients.
A consistent practice when managing these growing platforms for our clients is to stay relevant. By staying relevant, the platforms become easily approachable and fun, resulting in lively conversations between the brand and the consumer that build community that leads to a strong relationships and brand preference. Consumers want to trust their favorite brands and future brands. They want to break down the barriers in the relationship with transparency and a mutual understanding that voices will be heard on both ends.
“By giving people the power to share, we’re making the world more transparent.” Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook
Looking for a late-night snack? Corky the Pig recently took over Corky’s BBQ social account. Here are a few of our favorite social media graphics we’ve developed for our client:
