Viral Gets Nestle … The Palm Oil ‘Incident’

Yes, it’s great when viral advertising takes hold, isn’t it? Nestle Amsterdam achieved “viral advertising icon status” with its fake Jesus commercial (see previous blog posting). Nestle corporate achieved “viral advertising wrath”, big-time, by attempting to remove a viral Greenpeace ad linking Kit Kat bars to climate change from YouTube. “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.”

What chaos! What a backlash!

Activists, outraged consumers and digital geeks all united in the thrashing of Nestle throughout social media outlets. Many were incensed by Nestle’s use of palm oil, purchased through Sinar Mas—a company with one of the worst environmental records and linked to illegal deforestation. Others were angry that a corporation would violate the basic tenets of social media by banning someone else’s video.

Nestle’s rather benign and rarely visited Facebook page was barraged with comments ranging from generally to aggressively nasty comments and other creative expressions of the Kit Kat and Nestle logos. Nestle further dug themselves into a hole by threatening action against copyright violators.

As the online frenzy moved to the terrestrial world through protests and events, Nestle finally took it seriously and on May 17, issued a statement that Sinar Mas is no longer part of their supply chain. However, Nestle does still purchase palm oil from Cargill, which is supplied in part by Sinar Mas. So, the online discussion continues and the anti-Nestle throng continues to multiply.

I like to talk with our clients about emerging consumer demands for transparency … and provide a gentle warning that the days of the passive consumer are over.  This trend has steadily grown over the past couple of years, as consumers started scrutinizing company practices in addition to the nutrition labels.

Sustainability is also a huge topic on the minds of consumers, increasing considerably as purchase criteria for both foods and supplements. And companies can’t disrespect this; consumers have ways of peeking behind the curtain and are not shy about voicing their findings loudly, clearly and globally.

For those who haven’t seen it, here’s a link to the Greenpeace video as well as info on Nestle’s announcement to discontinue with Sinar Mas.