When you’re a digital marketing nerd, you always consume big news stories twice. The first time is the actual story itself with all the boring facts and figures, the second is the response on social media from brands trying to go viral.
And whether it’s a face-off over the legality of an insect-inspired cake, or the Twitterstorm that led to the iconic line ‘Sue, you’re shouting at tea‘, few countries do social media management better than the UK.
So when Boris Johnson finally resigned, it was never in any doubt that the brands of the UK would bring the heat with their social media reactions. Here are 10 of my favourite.
P.S. I’d like to pretend there are some lessons on how to do social media marketing well in this post (and there probably are), but the truth is I mainly wrote it because I don’t like Boris Johnson and it was a lot of fun.
1) Madame Tussauds
Waxwork of PM Boris Johnson appears outside job centre https://t.co/lp1vXvLMXN
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 7, 2022
Along with being very funny, this is genuinely brilliant marketing. As a result, Madame Tussauds started trending, and they’ve seen a 120% increase in branded search terms on organic search.
2) BrewDog
Is it too early to start prepping for the leaving party*?
(Sorry, work event)
Tell us which of these beers we should brew… if enough of you are keen, we’ll make the damn thing pic.twitter.com/aWHzWPcUhG
— BrewDog (@BrewDog) July 6, 2022
Being the BrewDog marketing department must be a dream – ‘Hey, head brewer, marketing team here, can we create a new beer named after big trending news story X? Yes? Brill!’ Also, if ‘Boris Lie-PA’ doesn’t win that poll I’m going sober.
3) KFC
Hey @Conservatives, fixed it for you. https://t.co/HSlS6eo989 pic.twitter.com/gz41fpLgHL
— KFC UK (@KFC_UKI) July 7, 2022
While the creative isn’t groundbreaking, I just love the fact KFC’s social media team have been holding a grudge for almost 3 years, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. It’s some proper jilted ex-lover energy and I’m here for it – hell hath no fury like a social media manager scorned!
4) Iceland
— Iceland Foods ❄️ (@IcelandFoods) July 6, 2022
When affordable supermarkets start taking the mick, you really know it’s time to go! I also love how much the design team at Iceland reflect the brand – as a social media creative, this screams simple and low-budget in a good way.
5) THIS
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Brilliant understanding of your target market here from THIS – I bet the Venn Diagram of vegans and people who don’t like Boris Johnson is basically a perfect circle!
6) Burger King
Leave the whoppers to us pic.twitter.com/bYLK0tWwrX
— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) July 8, 2022
Some real shade among fast-food brands in general for Boris Johnson 🍔
7) Zoopla
Never easy to get it right with creatives, but this is very clever from Zoopla pic.twitter.com/hnDJVQPKwj
— Duncan Wright (@dwright75) July 8, 2022
This is just *chef’s kiss* design work – to be so responsive in print really is very impressive.
8) House & Garden Magazine
Who will be next to take on 10 Downing Street, and what will they do to its interiors? https://t.co/CzoclZru3t
— House & Garden Magazine (@_houseandgarden) July 7, 2022
House & Garden Magazine asking the big questions!
9) John Lewis
Uh oh, here we go again… pic.twitter.com/nxFqXpdQ1q
— John Lewis & Partners (@JohnLewisRetail) July 7, 2022
Who knew No 10’s wallpaper would end up being such a sticky issue (terrible pun 100% intended).
10) Paddy Power
“A truly historic day on totally normal island”
Boris Johnson resigned but he’s still going to hang around for a few months.
Here’s how people reacted…it’s #FanDenial pic.twitter.com/3pDwUE2VoH
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 8, 2022
Or this one…
BREAKING: Boris Johnson has turned up to his latest cabinet meeting dressed as Mrs Doubtfire, brandishing a feather duster and shouting “hello dearies!”
More to follow.
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 6, 2022
Or this one…
‘If I can keep Nicolas Anelka happy on the bench, then a couple of MPs will be a piece of p*ss’ https://t.co/baM2MowZgP
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 6, 2022
