tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post115254775346275558..comments2024-03-06T03:58:39.540-06:00Comments on The Viral Garden: Coke boldly goes where every other clueless control-hungry company has gone beforeMack Collierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723628321171539590noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-33438362411761061422010-02-05T12:26:29.125-06:002010-02-05T12:26:29.125-06:00I agree with Mr. Anderson. As a communications of...I agree with Mr. Anderson. As a communications official or PR Representative, this is very frustrating.Devonhttp://www.corporatedesignchoice.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-44016506925568105942008-11-29T00:37:00.000-06:002008-11-29T00:37:00.000-06:00I love the mentos and coke experiment. I did it wi...I love the mentos and coke experiment. I did it with my 4 year old son this weekend. He learned about chemical reactions and what a volcano looks like when it erupts. Cool stuff! We found another fun site with neat science experiments like this. I will put the link below for anyone interested.<BR/><BR/>http://weirdsciencekids.com/FunExperiments.htmlWeird Science Kidshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10965074074330511732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-20276916124912096212008-04-24T09:50:00.000-05:002008-04-24T09:50:00.000-05:00Interesting that you use Coke in the headline thus...Interesting that you use Coke in the headline thus giving them one more piece of publicity. <BR/>I wonder how many other people have written about Coke does... and how few have written Mentos allows us to...<BR/>Is it possible their marketing people don't care if you call them old and out of touch as long as you mention their name?Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-70855524377228168742007-09-20T21:54:00.000-05:002007-09-20T21:54:00.000-05:00That's just awesome.That's just awesome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1154690189695249562006-08-04T06:16:00.000-05:002006-08-04T06:16:00.000-05:00Ann: The open shirt wasn't my idea. ;)Ann: The open shirt wasn't my idea. ;)Mike Abundohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12352841305297370494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152648968993086782006-07-11T15:16:00.000-05:002006-07-11T15:16:00.000-05:00Ann- Did you just call Mack a virgin?That's just a...Ann- Did you just call Mack a virgin?<BR/><BR/>That's just awesome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152644324297148552006-07-11T13:58:00.000-05:002006-07-11T13:58:00.000-05:00Mike Abundo: What's up with your photo? For a seco...Mike Abundo: What's up with your photo? For a second I thought I had stumbled onto "The Virgin Garden"...Mack's *other* blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152625545618378942006-07-11T08:45:00.000-05:002006-07-11T08:45:00.000-05:00That's why Mentos is the Freshmaker, and Coke make...That's why Mentos is the Freshmaker, and Coke makes you jittery.Mike Abundohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12352841305297370494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152624103325991532006-07-11T08:21:00.000-05:002006-07-11T08:21:00.000-05:00"How cynical is it for Coke (and Mentos) to now cr..."How cynical is it for Coke (and Mentos) to now create competitions AFTER the main buzz has hit? It might drag the buzz out for a bit longer, but as soon as the corporations get involved the buzz fades.<BR/><BR/>They just don't get it."<BR/><BR/>I think Mentos does. They said they loved the free publicity, and have talked to Grobe and Voltz about working on future promotional campaigns for them. And then they created a contest for the videos. Basically they said 'Hey we like what you are doing, keep on doing it, and if you want to join our contest, we'll give you the chance to win prizes!'.<BR/><BR/>Coke acted like the stick-in-the-mud nanny, and told the kids to stop playing with their food, then came back and said that playing with their food was ok, as long as they do it under Coke's supervision.<BR/><BR/>Right. The lesson here is, when you are getting buzz from the community that's driving sales, you embrace it and encourage your community to continue (Mentos), you don't try to stop/control, then re-route that buzz (Coke).Mack Collierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02723628321171539590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152613098734831972006-07-11T05:18:00.000-05:002006-07-11T05:18:00.000-05:00It just goes to show that timing has as much a par...It just goes to show that timing has as much a part to play in the new online world as the copntent itself.<BR/><BR/>How cynical is it for Coke (and Mentos) to now create competitions AFTER the main buzz has hit? It might drag the buzz out for a bit longer, but as soon as the corporations get involved the buzz fades.<BR/><BR/>They just don't get it.<BR/><BR/>It is the involvement of the brand that puts the users off.<BR/><BR/>The most base form of this is the old music phrase "I used to like them when they first started out but now they have signed to a big label they have gone all commercial".<BR/><BR/>It doesn't matter if the music is the same or that the band hasn't changed, but ownership of the band, with the signing to as label moves from the fans to the corporations - and the consumer HATES that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152588186048489432006-07-10T22:23:00.000-05:002006-07-10T22:23:00.000-05:00This is still a tough one. Although I'm not convi...This is still a tough one. Although I'm not convinced this move is necessarily a reaction to the mentos thing, I'm also not sure what the right move for coke is.<BR/><BR/>So, the right move was to embrace it more from the start, but they didn't. So what if you are that guy, trying to figure out where to move now, after the mistake has been made. What is the right move? Isn't this at least a step in the right direction, even if it's an imperfect one?<BR/><BR/>This requires some more thought, I think. Or maybe the diet coke I just drank is frying my brain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152587931484324362006-07-10T22:18:00.000-05:002006-07-10T22:18:00.000-05:00Unfortunately JD, you're exactly right. In many c...Unfortunately JD, you're exactly right. In many cases, you'd have to change the entire corporate culture at many big companies before they would be in a position to get 'down with their communities'. <BR/><BR/>And thanks for the '100 CDs for 100 Bloggers' shout-out!Mack Collierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02723628321171539590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152587499674703342006-07-10T22:11:00.000-05:002006-07-10T22:11:00.000-05:00Mack, I've become convinced that the internet has ...Mack, I've become convinced that the internet has completely caught Corporate America by surprise, and there are a lot of old fat-cat marketers that just can't compete in today's society.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, I think it's going to take a few high-priced funerals before businesses start adapting and adjusting.<BR/><BR/>It makes me curious, though...is there no one in the board rooms that hears these things and thinks "holy crap, that's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard!" And if so, is there a reason they don't speak up???<BR/><BR/>By the way, I blogged about a similar issue with <A HREF="http://jdmatthews.blogspot.com/2006/07/lets-all-take-up-collection-to-buy.html" REL="nofollow">Atlantic Records</A>, which allowed me to reference 100 CDs for 100 Bloggers yet again :)J.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01890955694635838420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152567438385751492006-07-10T16:37:00.000-05:002006-07-10T16:37:00.000-05:00Perhaps a bit unfair to Coke. Unlike Mentos, Coke...Perhaps a bit unfair to Coke. Unlike Mentos, Coke has a container that is subject to different pressures than normal -- and Coke has had experience with product liability with people that open the container and drink the product. Now you add in a way to make the stuff shoot all over.<BR/><BR/>So I guess I would have to ask Coke -- did the turnaround come after product engineers determined that dropping a mento in a closed bottle would <B>not</B> explode and injure anyone? <BR/><BR/>Or was this a knee-jerk reaction to the fear of a 'copyright' / trademark bogeyman?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152553661743107162006-07-10T12:47:00.000-05:002006-07-10T12:47:00.000-05:00Excellent post and excellent comment Ryan; "more l...Excellent post and excellent comment Ryan; "more lawyers than communicators". Perfect!<BR/><BR/>It is a bit mindblowing. I'm always baffled by these ham-fisted reactions... that are just so wrong.Tim Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00656450355435181157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24784219.post-1152551965226540562006-07-10T12:19:00.000-05:002006-07-10T12:19:00.000-05:00This is the kind of thinking that is impossible to...This is the kind of thinking that is impossible to deal with as a communications person. It's what happens when a company has more lawyers than communicators, and no matter how many times these compromise projects fail, they always seem to keep coming back for more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com