Immediately, negative headlines and hashtags calling to boycott the company rose to the top of people’s feeds. Wendy’s then went on the defensive and released a statement, saying it never intended to charge customers more at times of peak demand—on the contrary, it planned to lower them when store traffic was low. Intrigued by this PR disaster, Reddit user Lushsweet made a post on the platform, asking everyone to list other prime examples of public backlash. And folks delivered! Here are some of the most memorable entries from the discussion with thousands of comments.
LincHayes , Mr. Blue MauMau/Flickr Report
“I just thought this definitely hasn’t been the first time that a company made an announcement and tried to backtrack on some new policy/product/etc.,” they told Bored Panda.
“Another that came to mind was when IHOP announced that instead of sticking with what has made them well-known for years, they were transitioning into burgers. It backfired so badly that we haven’t heard about an IHOP burger since. And clearly, there have been many more examples of this, as seen in the post, and it was all really interesting to read about.”
TjbMke , Maurizio Pesce/Flickr Report
TheSnowBunny , sk/Flickr Report
“I do feel that social media has definitely empowered people to speak up more,” Lushsweet said. “News can spread like wildfire now… [and] a tweet can make or break a company, person, or idea. All it takes is one viral tweet, reel, or TikTok for everyone to get the message and for [explosive discourse] to follow.”
rmunderway , adifansnet/Flick Report
ReddyKilowattz , Salem State University Archives and Special Collec/Flickr Report
One in five Americans who see this type of behavior as a form of accountability point to reasons that relate to how helpful calling out others can be. For instance, some explained in an open-ended question that they associate this behavior with moving toward a better society or educating others on their mistakes so they can do better in the future.
However, a third (35%) of those who see calling out other people on social media as a form of unjust punishment cite reasons that relate to people who call out others being rash or judgmental. Some of these Americans see this kind of behavior as overreacting or unnecessarily lashing out at others without considering the context or intentions of the original poster. Others emphasize that what is considered offensive can be subjective.
dottydaydream , Jeremy Keith/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report
MaterialPace8831 , zhang kaiyv/Pexels Report
“Of course, there are people who misuse it, and with new technologies like deep fakes and AI, it’s becoming harder for some to tell what’s real and what’s fake. But, just like in society, there are people doing harmful things with the internet, and there are people using it to drive real change.”
N_dixon , Mike Mozart/Flickr Report
PizzaWall , Gordon Wrigley/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report
Hyrophant_sNs , paramountpictures Report
furbylicious , Oladimeji Ajegbile/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report
lolzbolz42 , RoadOver/Flickr Report
mickipedic , J Yochem/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report
PinkNGreenFluoride , Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Zalyra , theaustralianfoodshop Report
Silverblade3 , Frederik Hermann/Flickr Report
GaimanitePkat , MART PRODUCTION/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report
The_Ombudsman , Timothy Tolle/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report
vociferousgirl , Mike Mozart/Flickr Report
culturebarren , Tal Atlas/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report
clandestine_justice , Mike Mozart/Flickr Report
forwardaboveallelse , Mike Mozart/Flickr Report
rnilf , Nataliya Vaitkevich/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report
23andrewb , jm3 on Flickr/Flickr Report
Jim3535 , Tekeshwar Singh/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Illustrious_Hotel527 , Stock Catalog/Flickr Report
Navyblazers2000 , Strolicfurlan/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report
Rumham_Gypsy , The Rock/Youtube Report
Hypernatremia , jon jordan/Flickr Report
otritus , Binary Koala/Flickr Report
Follow Bored Panda on Google News!
Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!
