Lay’s Facebook promotion scooped by old media

The company had planned to unveil its new crowd-sourced chip flavors on Tuesday morning—except ABC News reported it days in advance. Huh?

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

The three finalists for the Do Us a Flavor contest are Chicken & Waffles, Cheesy Garlic Bread, and Sriracha, according to ABC News. The problem is that Facebook fans were expecting the announcement to come from the Lay’s Facebook page, which was showing three bags with question marks even after an announcement of the finalists aired on “Good Morning, America.”

According to Advertising Age, Lay’s fans weren’t taking too kindly to the announcement, or lack thereof. Some comments were even calling for their social media director to be fired. Others, like this, from a fan named Samantha, just expressed sheer confusion:

“What is going on? I’m very confused! I thought the 3 finalist are being named tonight at midnight??? But I’m reading people’s comments talking about that they already pick the finalist and it was on Good Morning America????? Please Explain!”

There was no official response from the brand on the page.

From Ad Age:

“In other words, old media beat new media to the news.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.