Skittles Buzzes through Twitter

Today’s Skittles site promotional launch caused a Twitter tempest, with people testing for moderation (there is none), starting up and building on rumors (Skittles as scientology cult), and commenting on a wildly different site concept (well, different from everything except Modernista, which it directly copies).

Most of the comments I read were about the Twitter segment of the site, which indeed struck me (and lots of other people) as showing bravery and clarity (get people talking, no matter what), unless they didn’t anticipate all the nasty and profane contributions that showed up. To be fair, lots of pro-Skittles comments showed up as well. I might have wished, however, had I been in charge of the launch, that I’d chosen the Facebook page (which boasts over half a million friends) or the Flickr page (which carries charming contributions from Skittles lovers) for the top, the arrival feature. Indeed the real-time aspect (at certain points, going from bad to worse) of the top-page Twitter feed may have had parents scurrying to add the site to the list of those they don’t allow kids to visit.

Still, once you go through the whole site, and stick around long enough to see the funny side of people playing around with Skittles, you get the sense of what they were doubtless going for--a full-on demonstration of the playful, cheerful, mostly-friendly way people define the brand. Even the detractors seemed mean-spirited in this context. Assuming such a buzz was the goal, and that the company expected and was ready for the widespread gaming, I think it succeeds.

Update: As of 24 hours later, it seems Skittles has indeed put the Facebook page on top. Good idea.

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Edited by Jenna at 03/03/2009 7:08 PM GMT