8 Cringey Brand Fails on Social Media

Fail case studies (with lessons and correctives)

Here’s a look at some epic brand fails on social media that damaged well-known brands’ reputations and sent their cleanup crews (aka PR teams) into high gear.

1. Burger King UK tweeted, “Women belong in the kitchen.”

Trying to capitalize on special holidays can backfire quickly if the message isn’t handled carefully. Burger King UK learned that the hard way with its International Women’s Day post in 2021. The campaign leaned on a clickbait tweet, and the brand’s actual intent never really came through.

The company used the statement “Women belong in the kitchen” to call attention to the lack of gender diversity in the restaurant industry. It was meant to promote a new scholarship program for female employees pursuing culinary careers in a male-dominated field. However, that context came later in the thread, and most people never saw it. Instead, many fixated on the initial post: “Women belong in the kitchen.” 

What may have been intended as cheeky came across as tone-deaf, especially on International Women’s Day — a time meant to celebrate women, not reinforce outdated stereotypes. The backlash was immediate. Burger King later deleted the tweet and issued an apology.

Key lesson: Always be mindful of context and avoid controversial (albeit clever) phrasing, even when you have good intentions and are trying to make a positive point. In this case, people reacted to the opening line and never really got to the explanation.

Corrective actions:

• Frame announcements positively from the start.
• Include key context in the initial post instead of burying it in a thread.
• Test potentially sensitive messaging with a diverse group before posting.

2. Gap divided audiences with its unity call.

The 2020 presidential election brought out strong reactions on both sides of the political aisle. The day after Election Day, Gap tried to strike a more unifying tone. The retailer posted a video on Twitter (now X) showing a Gap-branded sweatshirt being zipped up. Half of the sweatshirt was blue and half was red, meant to represent Democrats and Republicans coming together. The post declared, “The one thing we know, is that together, we can move forward,” along with a blue heart and red heart. 

But after months of political tension that had seeped into nearly every part of daily life, many people weren’t ready to move on — and they said so quickly. The brand faced criticism for “bothsidesism” and tone-deaf timing, with users calling it out and telling Gap to “read the room.”

Gap later deleted the post and acknowledged that the sweatshirt wasn’t actually for sale; it had been created just for social media. If the goal was to get attention on a crowded news day, it worked. It just wasn’t the kind of attention the brand was hoping for.

Key lesson: Timing matters when you’re weighing in on divisive topics. A unity message can land the wrong way if people are still processing what just happened. In this case, the message felt premature.

Corrective actions:

• Give it time before posting around emotionally charged or polarizing events.
• Focus on your brand’s values instead of trying to bridge political divides directly.
• Avoid creating one-off or fake products just for social media if they don’t reflect your actual offerings.

3. Apple appeared to crush creativity.

Apple has long been a favorite among creatives. The company has consistently positioned itself as a brand for people who think differently, dating back to its iconic “Think Different” campaign. So when Apple released a 2024 video ad for the iPad Pro, it quickly caught attention on social media — just not in the way the company likely expected.

The ad shows a hydraulic press crushing a collection of creative tools, including musical instruments and buckets of paint. When the press lifts, everything has been compressed into the new iPad Pro. The intended message was that the device can do it all. But the visual of familiar creative tools being flattened and destroyed landed very differently.

Apple faced immediate backlash on social media. Many viewers said the ad felt dismissive of creative work and the people behind it. Others called the concept soulless. In a moment when concerns about AI replacing human creativity are already top of mind, the imagery struck a nerve.

Apple later pulled the ad from its planned broadcast rollout and issued a public apology, stating, “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”

Key lesson: Visual metaphors don’t exist in a vacuum. If the imagery clashes with how your audience sees their work (or what they’re worried about), the message can get lost. In this case, the destruction overshadowed the idea Apple was trying to communicate.

Corrective actions:

• Test creative concepts with your target audience before moving into production.
• Pay attention to broader concerns that may shape how people interpret your message.
• Show how your product adds value, rather than relying on imagery that could be seen as destructive.

4. Robinhood’s Super Bowl ad missed the mark.

After spending more than $5 million on a Super Bowl ad in 2021, Robinhood shared its commercial with followers on Twitter (now X). The timing, however, couldn’t have been worse. The ad positioned the company as a platform for everyone, emphasizing that investing should be accessible regardless of someone’s background or income. “We are all investors” could have been a heartfelt relationship-builder — if the brand hadn’t already been under intense scrutiny for restricting trading for everyday users.

Earlier that year, Robinhood limited trading on AMC and GameStop after a surge driven by a group of Reddit investors known as WallStreetBets. As retail traders clashed with hedge funds shorting the stocks, Robinhood said it didn’t have enough capital to support the spike in activity.

Customers weren’t convinced. When the Super Bowl ad aired and was promoted on the company’s social channels, many users questioned where the company’s priorities really were. The backlash on social media was immediate, with responses ranging from “Criminals” to “Robinhood hates the average investor” to “Lies.”

Key lesson: Marketing messages don’t land in isolation. If they don’t line up with what customers are experiencing in real time, people will call out the disconnect. In this case, the message and the moment were out of sync.

Corrective actions:

• Hold off on major campaigns if you’re in the middle of a PR issue.
• Make sure your messaging reflects what customers are actually dealing with.
• Keep marketing and PR aligned so you’re not sending mixed signals.

5. Bioré missed the mark on mental health.

Most brands want to show they care about their customers and the issues that matter to them, but that doesn’t mean every conversation is a good idea or the right fit. Skincare company Bioré learned that the hard way in 2023 when it partnered with a social media influencer to promote its pore strips during Mental Health Awareness Month. Unfortunately, the influencer’s video, which aimed to “strip away the stigma of anxiety,” went viral for all the wrong reasons.

The influencer attended a college that had recently experienced a school shooting and spoke about the anxiety she felt in the aftermath. She was trying to raise awareness, but tying that message to a TikTok ad for pore strips didn’t sit well. People called out both the influencer and Bioré for linking a real tragedy to a product promotion.

The campaign generated a surge of attention — just not the kind the brand was hoping for. Instead of coming across as supportive, Bioré appeared willing to capitalize on a deeply sensitive moment to sell skincare products. Both the brand and the influencer later issued public apologies.

Key lesson: Not every issue is the right fit for a product tie-in. When real trauma is involved, audiences expect the focus to stay on the issue, not the brand. In this case, the connection felt forced, and people reacted to that.

Corrective actions:

• Keep social impact messaging separate from direct product promotion.
• Vet influencer content carefully, including how personal experiences are presented.
• Set clear internal guidelines around topics that shouldn’t be tied to marketing campaigns.

6. Chase blamed customers for poor finances.

Businesses can take advantage of social media trends by using relevant hashtags in their posts. But those efforts can backfire if the message behind the hashtag doesn’t land the way you expect. Case in point: In 2019, Chase tried to tap into #MondayMotivation on Twitter.

The post featured a fictional exchange between a person and their bank account, with the individual wondering why their balance was “so low” after spending money on eating out and taking cabs. Many users saw it differently. Instead of motivation, the post came across as blaming customers for having low balances. That struck a nerve, especially given long-standing criticism of big banks and how they treat lower-income customers.

The post also overlooked broader economic realities that are outside many people’s control. Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed that out directly in a reply that mimicked the format of Chase’s original tweet. The bank responded with a follow-up post: “Our #MondayMotivation is to get better at #MondayMotivation tweets. Thanks for the feedback Twitter world.” It was meant to be light, but it kept the conversation going. Days later, Warren amplified the issue further in a CNN op-ed, ensuring the backlash didn’t fade quickly.

Key lesson: Financial institutions have to be especially careful with tone. Messages about money can come across as dismissive if they don’t reflect what customers are dealing with. That’s what happened here.

Corrective actions:

• Keep motivational content grounded in practical, useful financial guidance.
• Acknowledge the broader economic factors that affect customers’ financial situations.
• Review posts with brand awareness and perception in mind, especially around sensitive topics like income and inequality.

7. Netflix’s “Cuties” trailer wasn’t cute.

When a streaming service acquires a new movie, it’s standard practice to create a trailer and promote it across social media. Netflix did just that in 2020 with Cuties — and got far more attention than it expected. The film had already screened at the Sundance Film Festival and been released in France, but Netflix’s promotional materials told a very different story from the thoughtful coming-of-age film audiences ultimately saw.

People didn’t hold back. Much of the reaction centered on what viewers saw as the sexualization of young girls, and that only grew once Netflix’s poster — showing the 11-year-old characters in suggestive poses — started circulating. “#CancelNetflix” trended, petitions called for the film to be removed, and the director, who had no control over the marketing, later said she received death threats.

The backlash didn’t fade quickly. Some politicians pushed for legal action, and the controversy dragged on for weeks, overshadowing the film’s critical reception (it holds an 88 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and distorting the message it was trying to convey. Netflix eventually replaced what it called “inappropriate artwork,” acknowledging that the imagery wasn’t representative of the film. 

Key lesson: Marketing materials have to reflect what the content actually is. When imagery tells a different story (especially with sensitive subjects like minors), people will react to that first.

Corrective actions:

• Review visual marketing materials with a critical eye for how they could be interpreted.
• Make sure the marketing team is aligned on what the content is actually about.
• Set stricter review standards for campaigns involving children or other sensitive topics.

8. Chick-fil-A shut down an employee advocate.

A Chick-fil-A employee went viral on TikTok after posting enthusiastic reviews of menu items at the fast food chain. Her videos quickly picked up traction, drawing millions of views, building a following and sending curious viewers to try Chick-fil-A for themselves.

Even so, Chick-fil-A told the budding TikTok creator she had to stop. Company policy prohibits employees from creating content about the brand, and in this case, the company chose to stick with the rule. Instead of working with the employee on a more formal brand advocacy basis, Chick-fil-A shut down one of its most effective organic promoters.

A competitor didn’t miss the opportunity. Shake Shack reached out and partnered with her on new videos featuring its menu. Those clips took off, sending her audience in a different direction and giving Shake Shack a boost that could have belonged to Chick-fil-A. It’s the kind of moment that’s easy to spot in hindsight. At the time, though, it came down to a policy decision.

Key lesson: Strict policies can get in the way of real opportunities. When employees are already connecting with an audience, that kind of momentum is hard to recreate through a traditional campaign.

Corrective actions:

• Build social media guidelines that leave room for positive employee content.
• Create clear paths for employees to participate in brand campaigns.
• Pay attention to what employees are already creating, as those moments can turn into marketing opportunities.

What can be learned from these social media mistakes?

These social media failures reveal several critical patterns that businesses must understand to protect their brand reputation:

• Context matters more than intent: Good intentions don’t help if the first message is easy to misread. Once people react to that opening line or image, it’s hard to pull things back.
• Timing can make or break a post: What might feel harmless on a normal day can land very differently in the middle of a controversy or major news event.
• People can tell when something isn’t authentic: Campaigns tied to serious issues tend to backfire when they feel more like marketing than genuine engagement.
• There’s value in what employees are already creating: Shutting that down too quickly can mean missing out on something that feels more real than a traditional campaign.
• Visuals carry a lot of weight: In fast-moving feeds, people often react to the image before they read anything else — and that first impression sticks.
• How you respond matters, too: A quick, straightforward response can help limit the damage. But once something takes off online, it doesn’t disappear.

Best practices to avoid brand fails on social media

Following social media marketing best practices can help you avoid fails like the ones above. These tips, backed by experts in the field, can keep your content on track so you steer clear of social media infamy and unnecessary bad press.

1. Find your audience.

As with email marketing campaigns, you can’t succeed on social media if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach. Before planning your strategy, you must identify your target audience. That means going beyond basic demographics and getting a clearer sense of who your customers are, what they care about, where they spend time online and what content they actually engage with.

Developing customer personas can help, but it’s also important to remember that real people are behind those profiles. If you approach social media as a way to build a community — not just push content — you’re more likely to turn followers into brand ambassadors who go beyond engaging with your content to share it and create their own. That’s why it’s also worth thinking about your audience’s audience. If you want your campaigns to take off for the right reasons, you have to consider how your content travels beyond your immediate followers.

“Most brands win by getting people talking about them,” said Tom Miner, managing partner and social media strategist at Gold Miner Media. “As consumers have grown increasingly weary of brands speaking at them, creating content for your audience’s audience carries several important benefits: It makes you slow down to think about your audience’s core desires (what they most want to see in your content), it lets you engineer content that helps itself get copied and shared, and it appeases modern algorithms.”

2. Choose the right social media networks.

It’s smart to secure your company’s username across social media platforms to avoid confusion later. But when it comes to actually posting and engaging on multiple social media accounts, it’s better to focus your efforts on the networks that make the most sense for your brand.

Start with where your audience already spends time. If your customers aren’t on Facebook, investing heavily in Facebook content isn’t likely to pay off. At the same time, choosing the right platforms isn’t just about the audience — it’s also about understanding how each one works. Different networks attract different demographics and reward different content styles, posting rhythms and engagement approaches.

“Every social platform has distinct cultures, users, behaviors and content formats,” said Miner. “Brands can no longer afford to take a one-size-fits-all approach to social. It comes across as tone-deaf when content is not contextualized to the specific platform it appears on. This increases the chances of something getting ‘lost in translation’ between a brand and consumers.”

3. Be consistent.

Your business likely already has a defined brand identity that shapes how your audience sees you. That same tone and aesthetic should carry over to social media. When your messaging shifts from post to post, it can feel inconsistent, and that can come across as inauthentic.

“One commonly overlooked but incredibly important asset that can help avoid a brand failure is having clear social media guidelines for tone and messaging,” said Kevin Gonsalves, director of strategy at ICUC, a global social media and online community management agency. “Guidelines can align the team on a unified voice and help prevent misinterpretations and tone-deaf posts.”

If you’re trying to emotionally connect with customers to build brand intimacy, consistency matters even more. That includes using hashtags thoughtfully, sharing credible information and sticking to content that fits your brand. You may have already built trust in other channels, but on social media, you’re reinforcing it with every post.

4. Create a content calendar.

Social media can’t be an afterthought if you want it to support your brand. A content calendar helps you plan posts in advance, and scheduling tools make it easier to stay consistent without scrambling at the last minute.

“You set the expectation for your audience,” said Lexi Floyd-Nye, social media director at Aqua Marketing & Communications. “Make sure you ‘show up’ for them consistently by publishing a consistent stream of content.”

Maintaining a content calendar also keeps team-wide awareness of what’s being posted and when. That visibility can help you avoid missteps, like posting something that doesn’t quite fit the moment or overlooks an important date. Social media management tools can also help you balance paid and organic social media efforts and track what’s actually working so you can adjust over time.

5. Use social listening.

Creating strong content is essential, but you can’t do it in a vacuum. If you want your social media efforts to land (and avoid blunders like the ones above), you need to keep an eye on how people are talking about your brand and what’s happening across your industry.

Social listening tools help you track mentions, follow competitor activity and spot emerging trends. They can also give you a better sense of what your audience is actually responding to, which makes it easier to plan content that feels relevant instead of forced. And when people do engage, replying to mentions, answering questions and joining conversations can go a long way toward engaging your audience on social media and building that connection.

“If you’re not plugged into the daily vibes, conversations and emotional state of the internet, you’re increasing the chances of creating mishaps,” said Miner.

6. Know when to stay on the sidelines.

Maintaining an active social media presence doesn’t mean you need to weigh in on every trend or current event. In fact, sometimes the better move is to sit one out, especially when it’s unrelated to your brand or touches on something sensitive. Even posts that seem harmless can backfire if they come across as forced or out of place.

“When in doubt, sit it out,” Miner advised. “If your brand is about to say or do something that feels like it’s going to blow up in its face, listen to that intuition. The risk-reward balance is out of whack, and you’ll be better served by being thoughtful than rushing into something.”

This applies to ongoing campaigns, too. The context around a post can change quickly, and something that felt appropriate when you planned it may not land the same way a day or two later. When that happens, it’s worth pausing and reassessing rather than pushing forward.

“[That] might include pausing posts if a related topic becomes controversial or revisiting scheduled content if it no longer aligns with current events,” said Gonsalves.

7. Encourage engagement.

An appealing brand on social media interacts with its followers. Ask your customers what they like and don’t like, what challenges they’re dealing with and where your business could improve. That kind of feedback can lead to new ideas, better processes and, in some cases, even new products.

Stay on top of those interactions using social media management tools, and make it clear that you’re listening. The goal is to create real conversations, which means there has to be some back-and-forth.

“This is where community management comes in,” said Floyd-Nye. “Respond to comments and messages promptly and interact with your audience regularly and consistently.”

You can also encourage engagement by inviting followers to share content ideas or create their own posts featuring your brand. User-generated content (UGC) can be a great source of visibility and credibility. Just make sure you’re reviewing submissions carefully so nothing slips through that could hurt your brand.

8. Have a crisis plan.

At some point, something will go wrong. How your business responds on social media can make all the difference.

“Brands need to have a plan in place for handling crises,” said Stefanie Magness, founder and senior strategist at Elevate Visibility Group. She pointed to the widely criticized United Airlines incident, when a passenger was forcibly removed from an overbooked flight, as a clear example of what can go wrong. “Their poor communication and slow response made the situation worse and turned it into a textbook case of how not to handle a crisis.”

That’s why it helps to plan ahead. A clear, written approach to handling issues can make it easier for your team to respond quickly and keep things from escalating. One of the most important parts of that response is being upfront about mistakes and addressing them directly.

“When a post causes a backlash, be transparent about your mistake,” Gonsalves advised. “A simple ‘We messed up, and we’re sorry’ message goes a long way. Making your apology direct and acknowledging specific mistakes is important to rebuilding trust with your followers.”

Social media mistake-proofing checklist

Before posting any social media content for your business, use this comprehensive checklist to identify potential issues and reduce the risk of brand fails.

Message and context

• Does the post clearly communicate its message without extra explanation?
• Could the headline or opening line be misread on its own?
• Is the timing appropriate given current events or ongoing conversations?
• Does the content align with your brand voice and values?

Audience considerations

• Will this message land well with your target audience?
• Could different groups interpret this differently?
• Is there anything here that could unintentionally alienate part of your audience?
• Does the content avoid stereotypes and respect cultural sensitivities?

Visual and technical elements

• Do visuals support the message, not contradict it?
• Are links working and pointing where they should?
• Has the post been proofread for accuracy and clarity?
• Are hashtags relevant and appropriate for your brand?

Team review

• Has someone else looked at this with a fresh perspective?
• Does this need input from PR or legal before posting?
• Is there a clear approval process for sensitive topics?
• Are you prepared to respond if the post gets negative attention?

Red flags to watch for

Keep an eye out for these immediate red flags:

• Using tragedy or sensitive topics as part of a marketing message
• Posts that could come across as judgmental, dismissive or out of touch
• Weighing in on political issues that aren’t tied to your business
• Content created mainly to provoke a reaction or chase attention
• Messaging that contradicts recent company actions or policies
• Posting during an active PR issue or negative news cycle
• Jumping on trending hashtags without fully understanding them
• Trying to tie your brand to serious news events
• Creating “fake” scenarios or products just for engagement
• Ignoring your own guidelines to chase a viral moment

 Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.