In an age where people feel unsafe walking around because of the color of their skin, are afraid to hold their partner’s hand in public and wonder if coworkers with an Adam’s apple are making 20% more for the same work, it’s no surprise that Pepsi’s latest campaign fell flat and has now been pulled.

There is no more important distinction for a brand to make today: Are you part of the movement, or jumping on the bandwagon when it’s convenient? Choose carefully or you may find yourself under the wheels…

Last week, Advertising Age shared Aimee’s thoughts on today’s rawness, what obstacles brands face when bandwagoning on social movements and why it’s audience-built content—not celebrity dazzle—that defines the creative landscape in 2017. Take a peek.

Pepsi, Listen to the New Generation. Yours truly, Black Sheep.

We live in an incredibly raw time. Emotions are high, and there are a lot of social causes and movements catching people’s attention. Because of that, many brands are trying to figure out ways to participate. While some, like REI, thrive when it comes to speaking about issues like feminism, others are struggling to find that line between marketing and meaning.

Condensed

Carter Wilkerson, a Nevada teen, is rapidly approaching top Twitter status after accepting a basically-impossible challenge from fast-food chain Wendy’s account. His mission? To get 18 million retweets in exchange for a year’s supply of chicken nuggets.

Just five days after the initial exchange, Carter’s tweet has snagged over 2.5 million retweets. He’s had the help of Amazon, Google, LinkedIn, Breaking Bad, various political figures, CEOs and airlines, who’ve all either offered encouragement or incentives to capitalize on the free advertising.

And that’s fantastic. Well done, hilariously engaged brands. Bravo. But here’s the thing: Carter’s on to something more valuable than fried goodness. Carter, we need to talk.

Yo, dude. Let’s talk money. You got ripped off. 

Say you finally make it to 18 millions retweets. You’re well on your way already—2.5 million?! Congratulations, by the way. That’s insane. 

You’re awarded your long-awaited nuggets—maybe Wendy’s happens to be incredibly generous, and instead of the normal once-a-week nugget standard, you’re given nuggets EVERY DAY for the rest of the year. That’s nugget paradise, and we’ll endorse that.

But even then, your total nugget award is only around $653 dollars. And with the average profit margin for the entire fast food industry being just 2.4% (according to Capital IQ), Wendy’s total cost for their generous deed was basically just the full cost of the nugget’s fair value: ~$650.

SumAll, a data analytics tool, declared that “based on its research, one tweet generates an average of $25.62 in revenue as opposed to not tweeting at all.” Furthermore, each retweet can generate $20.37 in revenue. 

And as of now, you’ve got more than 2.5 million retweets—and from all this attention online, Wendy’s potential return is literally 50 million dollars. All because they supported your crazy idea of free nuggets for a year. 

That doesn’t even mention the hundreds of media hits that you and your mission have garnered, which—surprise, surprise—all mention Wendy’s. Tricky. Free publicity is the best publicity. They’re probably just lounging around chuckling, eating BUCKETS of nuggets and drinking out of crystal goblets over at Wendy’s corporate headquarters. 

Don’t get us wrong. We’d love free nuggets. Free nuggets taste so much better than paid-for nuggets. There is an ephemeral joy that is only available for the taking when you’re eating free nuggets, you know? But when you (inevitably) win, you should barter yourself a new deal. Those nuggets are worth millions. 

If you aren’t already taking a sabbatical from the airline-based atrocities making their way across the internet, never fear.

#NuggsForCarter: The Art Of The Meal

If you aren’t already taking a sabbatical from the airline-based atrocities making their way across the internet, never fear. Once again, we’ve been blessed with a worthy cause: nuggets.