Nutella’s Selfie Jar Is The Meanest Fail Possible!

Wouldn’t it be perfect to have a Nutella jar with your name printed on it – a selfie jar? Even though you must me nodding your head in crazy excitement, here’s what some people had to say – and so.

Nutella, manufactured by Italian company Ferrero, launched its “Make Me Yours” campaign this week, creating a website for people to order their own personalized label of Nutella and an associated hashtag, #mynutella.

But the campaign got off to a rocky start, with an email rubbishing the new campaign ended up being made an example of by Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar website. The site quickly responded by personalized a jar of Nutella with the word “oops”.

The Flips Sides

Nicole Reaney, director of InsideOut Public Relations, said that campaigns that involve and engage the public achieve greater awareness than campaigns using traditional advertising.

“In this sense, it is getting good awareness and publicity,” she says.

But Reaney says she believes Nutella’s campaign failed on two important fronts.

The first is in relation to the company not properly targeting its pitch, Reaney says, pointing out I Quit Sugar picked up the campaign’s press release and quickly turned the messaging around.

“It backfired in that sense, the company lost control over its messaging,” she says.

“When you hand the reins over to the public – you expose yourself to potential backlash. And sometimes that’s a good thing.”

“In this case however – I’d say it’s a PR fail – given the target market of Nutella and them inadvertently pitching the idea to a sugar-free site/blogger.”

Overshooting the target

Reaney says the campaign missed the mark because it strayed from Nutella’s traditional audience.

“Nutella is a brand that’s marketed to families, this particular campaign it’s not families being engaged, it’s probably people in teens and 20s having a bit of fun (with the label),” she says.

“That’s what’s generated the viral spread of the campaign.”

History of Personal Branding

Reaney says there are similarities and differences with Woolworths’ “Fresh in Our Memories” campaign, which also involved a personal branding campaign being hijacked.

“Earlier this year we saw Woolworths with its Anzac Day campaign going in with good intentions but hijacked. The end result is insensitive messages,” she says.

“This campaign is more light-hearted but at same time, given the audience of Nutella, I’d say they’ve missed the mark.”