When you were on Instagram on Wednesday, did you see a bunch of people posting the same photo of a female model in a red bathing suit sitting by a pool?
If you did, it’s because of a viral marketing stunt by the Sunny Clothing Company from Rancho Cordova, California. A stunt that went a little TOO well.
They made an offer that anyone who reposted that photo on Instagram and tagged them would get that bathing suit for FREE. It costs $65, so it was a hell of a deal . . . and lots of people jumped on it. Like, hundreds of thousands of people.
So Instagram was flooded with the red bathing suit photo . . . and the small Sunny Clothing Company realized they’d just promised to give away millions of dollars of merchandise.
They posted a letter on Instagram yesterday apologizing for how out of control it got . . . and they also said they’re going to honor the free suits for the first 50,000 people who posted the photo. Everyone else? No free bathing suit.
And, of course, all the people who AREN’T getting one are now FURIOUS and blasting them in the comments. Such is life when you play with viral marketing fire. (Mashable)
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