Greggs has been embarrassed after a crude spoof of its logo started appearing on a prominent Google search result- but the UK bakery chain managed to turn the situation to its advantage via some good humoured and timely social media management. The company’s logo, with the (obviously unofficial) slogan “providing shit to scum for over […]
Greggs has been embarrassed after a crude spoof of its logo started appearing on a prominent Google search result- but the UK bakery chain managed to turn the situation to its advantage via some good humoured and timely social media management.
The company’s logo, with the (obviously unofficial) slogan “providing shit to scum for over 70 years” appeared on an image on the first page of results shown to anyone searching the company’s name yesterday.
Greggs’ Wikipedia page was also targeted yesterday afternoon with a crude message that was quickly removed.
Thousands of people were quick to point out the error to the company’s social media team was quick to issue a good-humoured response its Twitter followers.
On its official Twitter feed, Greggs said it was aware of the change and was speaking to Google about it.
Greggs said on Twitter to users who had spotted the logo: “All publicity is good publicity? That’s what they say isn’t it? *weeps alone in a corner*”.
@Matt_Brammer @NewBrandVision all publicity is good publicity? That's what they say isn't it? *weeps alone in a corner*
— Greggs (@GreggstheBakers) August 19, 2014
In another it said: “We’ve been working with Google all morning to try and fix it! Hopefully get it sorted soon!!”
Google and Greggs later swapped banter on Twitter about the issue.
Greggs tweeted a picture of a tray of doughnuts saying: “Hey GoogleUK, fix it and they’re yours!!!”
Hey @GoogleUK, fix it and they're yours!!! #FixGreggs pic.twitter.com/d5Ub7qtrLG
— Greggs (@GreggstheBakers) August 19, 2014
Google replied with a picture of Homer Simpson eating doughnuts and a message saying: “Sorry Greggs the Bakers, we’re on it. Throw in a sausage roll and we’ll get it done asap.”
Sorry @GreggstheBakers, we're on it. Throw in a sausage roll and we'll get it done ASAP. #fixgreggs pic.twitter.com/THXuMubrQq
— Google UK (@GoogleUK) August 19, 2014
A short time later Google confirmed via Twitter that the offensive image had been removed – earning a reply from Greggs suggesting a new Google doodle made from sausage rolls.
The brand was lauded on Twitter for its fast and good-humoured approach to the problem as shown in this tweet below.
Comms team at @GreggstheBakers is doing a grand job responding to the tweets relating to the logo that's on Google. Good crisis response.
— Leigh Kendall (@leighakendall) August 19, 2014
Social analysis firm Crimson Hexagon analysed conversations in more detail and understand the immediate reaction to the incident. Its ForSight platform found a total of 10,740 posts relating to the mishap.
In the past ten days there has been a consistent pattern of around 60 mentions per day for the brand. Tuesday 19th August (the day of the indident) saw a 553 percent increase in mentions, peaking around 1pm.
Despite the negative connotations of the spoof logo, the public is clearly siding with Greggs. 22% of those discussing the incident have mentioned how well the Greggs social team handled the whole thing. 7% of those reacting to the spoof logo have questions why it wasn’t taken down immediately.
Almost three quarters of the conversation (67%) is focused on blame, with over half of Twitter users resting the blame firmly with Google (54%). 10% claim hackers are at fault and 3% attribute the fault to Greggs.
How did its happen?
The fake logo was hosted by the satirical website Uncyclopedia, which revealed it was uploaded by a user called Romartus on Tuesday morning.
It is thought it was picked up by a Google algorithm, which trawls 60 trillion individual pages across the web for content relevant to search results.
When searching for well-known individuals or companies, Google pull in a a rough bio and illustrates it with a logo or picture.
Unfortunately, Greggs’ most popular logo comes with what is most definitely an unofficial ‘motto’- a warning to other brands to ensure their online material is strong enough to eclipse any spoofs floating around on the web.
