A few days ago, a swimwear brand topped headlines with what was soon announced to be the worst news of their publicity (the police bikini!) when they decided to go ahead and release an item called the Rosa Parks inspired Bikini! The launch was soon condemned on social media as “tasteless” and disrespectful. The incident quickly spread online, demonstrating how social media amplifies public outrage and controversy.
Rosa Parks, an influential figure in American history also has a place debt for her important part of the civil rights movement. Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4th, 1913 and historians commonly credit her with sparking that movement by refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus to white passenger Rosa Parks December 1st, of the year. Because of this act, the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred and dragged on for more than a year before successfully desegregating all public transportation systems within the city. Parks’ defiance and determination stood as a living example of the effort to create equal rights.
Swimwear brand reveals Rosa Parks “inspired” bikini and sparks social media outrage. PIC.TWITTER.COM/KS0QBT4QU7
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) JUNE 26, 2024
Its Rosie Parks inspired bikini collection released to wide social media backlash. This outraged users who took offense at the brand profiting off a very important historical figure and minimizing her role in civil rights. This backlash was amplified through the influences of social media algorithms, which tend to priorities emotional content over other types. Research also shows that an angry or morally outraged, slightly more neutral version of the emotion post is likely to go viral and be seen by dozens if not thousands (or millions) of people where it might increase engagement. This was seen with the spread of hashtags, comments and retweets on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The Outrage Economy on Social Media As to why the controversial content performs so well, this is a great article discussing it. Because Engagement in general more ad revenue for platforms like Facebook and Twitter. This in effect creates a feedback loop of provocative content, and hence backlash from the public. While brands and people continue to stretch these limits to get attention, as seen with the swimwear brand’s controversial product this could easily backfire.
After facing a backlash, the swimwear brand apologized in a statement for offending with their product. The label admitted that the bikini was inappropriate, and said they would pull it from their line immediately. In the wake of that they also promised to teach their team about respecting cultural and historical sensitivities making sure this kind of disrespect doesn’t happen again. Though the brand did tweet somewhat of an apology, critques continued and there were even some boycott calls.
It establishes a cautionary tale about employing historical references along with characters for marketing purposes. Brands then walk a fine line between these creative worlds and the historical / cultural world we find ourselves in. Hence, the backlash felt by swimwear brand becomes a lesson learnt as it serves to replicate how we need to be cautious and sensitive with our promotional strategies. But mistakes can do much worse than simply embarrass a brand, they can elicit outrage.
It unveils the immense power of social media platforms in influencing public discourse and also expose how outrage can be bad for us too. This is why brands need to take care of the sensitivity and importance from a cultural/historical perspective for their products. Communication is the key part of this new marketing world, and so it will be important for these messages to hit tactfully while also remaining respectful PR in a two-way trust-based street with that generations consumer.
