Caught in PR firestorm, ChapStick issues an apology
The company offended some with a picture on its Facebook page, and instead of addressing the controversy right away and apologizing, it deleted comments.
Last week, the company posted an image on its Facebook page of a woman bent over a couch with her butt in the air. She’s looking for her ChapStick. Some called the image sexist, including this blogger, triggering an outpouring of criticism on the company’s Facebook page.
Instead of responding, ChapStick deleted the comments—and then the situation snowballed from there as even more nasty comments piled on the page. Soon, a number of bloggers and mainstream media outlets were writing about it.
Obviously, ChapStick should have responded immediately, either defending the image or removing it and apologizing. After all, the company’s ads do say, “Be heard at Facebook.com/ChapStick.”
After the bruising, ChapStick on Wednesday afternoon removed the image from its Facebook page and issued this apology:
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