The term ‘cancel culture’ is usually bandied around when celebrities make a public misstep. But what about when brands fall victim to a social media backlash?

That’s exactly what happened to cleaning brand Fabulosa, which recently received a barrage of abuse after one Instagram user alleged one of the brand’s aerosol cans had caught fire in her sink, resulting in burns to her face and a two-hour stint in A&E.

The woman in question removed the post after refusing to talk to the brand’s customer service team, claimed Fabulosa co-founder and MD James Sharpe in an interview with The Grocer this week. But the damage was already done. Shortly after the post was published, a Change.org campaign urged retailers to remove Fabulosa products from stores. It has received 1,317 signatories.

It goes to show the growing power of social media in the complaints process. The customer service hotline is no longer the first port of call, or even the second. Consumers air their negative experiences publicly on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, allowing them to quickly circulate – regardless of whether the claims are founded. 

Even supposedly positive posts can prove detrimental. In the case of Fabulosa, one TikTok user shared a cleaning ‘hack’ that involved spraying one of the brand’s Shock Can aerosols down the back of a radiator to remove dust. It’s not something Fabulosa would recommend, yet the post soon gathered ground. One month later, another TikTok user warned her attempt to replicate the ‘hack’ resulted in “a massive fireball explosion”. Fabulosa has since responded, urging consumers not to use its products in this way.

The lesson for Fabulosa is to put out these fires – literal or metaphorical – before they even begin. Sharpe admits it was a “mistake” not to act sooner on the claims. So Fabulosa now has a team member diligently monitoring all social media platforms for potentially dangerous hacks, or claims, on a daily basis.

Granted, it doesn’t cut out the danger altogether. Even if the team does stumble across a problematic post, the most they can do is report it to the platform in question, ask the user to take it down and publish a response advising followers not to try it. 

But at the very least, Fabulosa can take active steps to minimise any damage. And considering how quickly online ‘cancelling’ can spread, that could be the difference between a PR win and a PR fail.

Topics