Reflection on Social Media Case 10: Miracle Mattress Twin Tower Sale


I honestly can’t figure out how the Texas based mattress company, Miracle Mattress, thought that making a joke out of a horrific tragedy that changed the world would make a good mattress commercial.
Or how everyone involved, including the actors and the videographer, didn’t have any second thoughts while they were filming the commercial.
And how in the world did anyone affiliated with Miracle Mattress watch the final cut and not think, “Hmm, this might be slightly offensive?”
As someone who has done some marketing, I know how many steps go into making a video, even one that is low-budget, and I have summarized some of the steps taken from this website here:
  1. There has to be some conception:

Person #1: Hey, we need to promote our store to get some mattresses sold. Do you have any ideas?
Person #2: Well, let me put this last twin mattress on this tower over here and I will help you think of something.
Person #1: That’s it! You are putting it on the “twin tower!” Let’s have a “Twin Tower Sale!”
(What should have been said: Nah, that is definitely not a good idea. That would be                              offensive.)
(What was said:) Person #1: Yeah! That is a great idea!
Person #1: We have two weeks until the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11. If we hurry, we can use that holiday to promote our sale!
Person #2: Yeah, and let’s make it funny!

           2. The details have to be worked out:
·         Choose actors: There are three people in this video who should have stopped this process.
·         Create set: Every single mattress was piled by someone who should have listened to the gnawing feeling in their gut that told them this was going to be a mistake.
·         Write and memorize script: Even if every word was not written out, there was an outline. But, it seems pretty memorized to me. Someone took the time to write this out. And then three people took the time to study and internalize this. Why did it make it this far??
3         3. The scene is filmed:
This was likely NOT the first take. Nothing ever goes right on a first take. These people did this over and over. And over. And then again.

4. Someone reviews the commercial:

(What the reviewer should have said: “Wow, this is actually awful. It sucks that we put so much energy and money into this, but I really think we need to rethink this commercial.”)

But somehow, this video made it through all the steps and a horrible social media reaction ensued. Enough that Miracle Mattress closed until after 9/11 and has pretty awful reviews.

Comments

  1. Taylor WhiteApril 4, 2018 at 3:47 PM

    Emily, great post! I really like how you posted the steps to making a video for a company. I have never thought of a company following steps like that, but it totally makes sense. Obviously Miracle Mattress didn’t do a great job at following these steps accurately.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 5, 2018 at 7:47 PM

    Thanks for sharing! It's clear that Miracle Mattress made a mistake!

    ReplyDelete

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