We all recall the “Motrin Moms” flap, in which an advertisement for the painkiller spoke to the aches that accompany the “fashion” of “wearing” your baby in a body-hugging sling.  A righteous flare-up among heavily-networked online moms motivated Motrin execs to scurry in retreat from its campaign.  Everybody involved in Social Media Marketing weighed in, including Yours Truly.

Did you see the actual ad, or did you just read the write-ups?  Here it is again:

I’ll grant you that it’s a bit smarmier-than-thou, but I never thought the ad was purposefully disrespectful.  And apparently, once you get past the Social Media crowd, that’s the way “average consumers” feel, as well.  This suggestion comes from a Lightspeed Research survey (as covered in AdAge last week):

“(Almost) 90% of women had never seen the ad. Once they saw it, about 45% liked the video, 41% had no feelings about it, and 15% didn’t like it. Even fewer, 8%, said it negatively affected their feelings of the brand, compared with the 32% who said it made them like the brand more.”

Imagine you’re a Fortune 500 marketing executive.  You watched that Motrin Moms debacle with a twinge of fear.  You’ve been understandably skittish about offending the online consumerati.

Then, you see this Lightspeed study.

Do you conclude that it is actually “safe” to wave off the concerns of Social Media zealots? — Everything’s game?  Ignore the wingnuts?

Do you continue to “live in fear?” — Ignoring online channels in favor of traditional campaigns?

Do you look for a middle ground? — A way to gain insights from Social Media advocates that might create more effective and acceptable content?

You’re in charge of a multimillion dollar budget and in this harsh economy your decisions are being heavily scrutinized.

What course do you take?

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