Need help with a very sensitive complaint against a massive multinational!

[MrsRickman]

Ok, here goes.
Coca Cola are running a promo via their Dr Pepper brand just now on facebook. It is called 'status takeover' and involves the application putting an embarrassing or funny status on your FB page.
My 14 yo dd participated and I was HORRIFIED to log into FB and see that her status read - 'I watched 2 girls one cup and felt hungry afterwards'. For anyone who doesn't know what this means, please stay ignorant, for those who do, you can imagine how I felt. This was compounded later on when a quick search through dds internet history revealed she had tried to find out what it was for herself. Thankfully, our ISP has a wonderful child filter!!
So, after various emails and phonecalls to CocaCola marketing I have been offered (quite offensively) as way of compensation, a night in a hotel and theatre tickets for the West End. Fat lot of use to me, we live in Glasgow.
So, how do I proceed? ASA? I am absolutely fizzing with rage and disgust, and want a full apology and explanation. CocaCola are saying they use outside marketing teams for different brands and it's outside their jurisdiction. Help!?

When I tried they said they couldn't deal with the actual editorial content of web pages, just the banners and links.

Perhaps someone else can give it a go incase I've misunderstood?

Hmm I don't see how the content of the "status takeover" would be any different to the content of a direct marketing letter or phone call or email.

If they say it is different - then perhaps their remit needs widening.

Ahh - seen further on the ASA website;

"Claims on websites
Although we do deal with some advertisements that appear online, the ASA does not currently have any remit over marketing messages on companies? own websites. We can consider complaints about sales promotions that appear on companies? websites.

In general, misleading claims on companies' websites can be reported to your local trading standards department.

The advertising industry, led by the Advertising Association, is currently holding discussions to extend advertising self-regulation to other forms of digital marketing communications. An announcement will be made in due course."

Well they had better bloody well get a move on then.

the ASA does not currently have any remit over marketing messages on companies? own websites FFS!

Lean Mean ad agency may be dropped.

(apols if linked already)

I have submitted a complaint - I just put it under - internet - other and described what happened.

It's not good enough for them to just blame LMFM. Surely a company of their magnitude must have lawyers checking anything over before it's approved?

I see it's been picked up by the Teleraph now - what we need is for other national press and news channels to pick up the story. the Daily Mail would love this - right up their street. After all, look at what happened with Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. A relatively small number of people heard the shoe and complained - the most vociferous complaints came from people who had hear about the show.

Most people who would complain bitterly and campaign for them to be punished have not even heard about it yet!

heard the show - not shoe. Sorry!

And if Coca Cola were "unaware of the meaning of the line"-why the fück didn´t they bother to find out before approving the promotion?

Sky news repeats the news hourly doesn't it?

I think so...hope I havent missed it...

Has anyone sent this thread to the daily mail or contacted them otherwise?

I also don't buy the "unaware of the meaning" line, given that other statuses used referred to masturbation. It's not as if this was a single rogue status as they are trying to imply, the campaign referenced other sexual activity, the 2 girls status was just the worst (by a mile).

Yes Coke/Dr P accountable.

But it's good, ad agencies need to think about the vile stuff that they are often so keen to put out there.

I think the spokesperson from mumsnet will be on sky.com news at 7pm on the Sky News channel.
It's a news programme concerned with news stories on the web.

Oh God, not the Daily Mail.

That's a surefire way to dilute the gravity of the situation. The Daily Mail is a joke to many people.

Thanks MrsRickman.....quickly going to do the bath/bed thing and set the recorder...

Hope you approve of my name change.....dont think I can ever revert to just plain onadietcokebreak anymore!

Please could someone do a quick recap of what was on the Sky news report after it happens for people like me not in the UK and therefore unable to see it? Thank you if someone can, would be very grateful.

This is TOTALLY unacceptable. I worked for a TV company on a campaign similar to this a couple of years ago (to do with making careers advice funny for teenagers). We made short films for YouTube, but as an adjunct to the project all the characters had MySpace pages. I had to approve lists and lists of things like status updates and web links before we went live. We didn't really have time to look at and approve every one but I made sure we did -- because I'm not mental.

I am sure someone, if not several people, at Coca Cola will have been sent that list of status updates. They probably waved it through half-asleep.

MN really need to publicise this. Lots of people don't realise how Facebook and social networking sites like it work, so don't have any clue how pervasive and ubiquitous they are amongst teens. It would really help if people could start talking about this, and not in a 'Facebook rots your brain' kind of way either. Social networking sites aren't going to go away any time soon. People need to work out what they are and understand them properly.

Sky news can be watched online here
The story has just been mentioned.

I've just emailed the DM, and Sky is just about to broadcast the story right now!

Sorry I know it's not everyone's favourite paper but I really think for the best exposure to something like this they are the best bet.

I'm disgusted at the alarming lack of parenting here, what kind of irresponsible parent lets their kid sign up for something like this?

2 girls 1 cup has references all over the internet it would have been found eventually anyway, but to say coca cola are at fault is frankly ignorant, you let your kid sign up for this crap!

It's also a little disturbing how scary you found it, at 14 most kids are mature enough to understand that kind of thing, admittedly they should not be exposed to hardcore porn but this is the internet, you go to google and type in vegetables, you'll get some form of porn.

The trick is to educate your kids that these kinds of things exist and educate them on the proper responses to such things.

If my daughter had found something like that she'd have looked gone oh god that's nasty come to me and told me what had happened and I'd have sorted it, end of.

If you're so terrified that this would have damaged or traumatised your child then you have not given them the emotional and rational skills they need to survive in the world yet and that's just plain bad parenting to leave such a vulnerable child alone with the internet.

strandedatsea I'm watching in real time now, so will do, but I'm sure you must be able to do some kind of iplayer of their bulletins?

I seem to have missed it on Sky?

Have I missed it?