We are often asked during our social media training courses about brands jumping on the latest viral trend.
The temptation is obvious – increased visibility, enhanced engagement and the chance to showcase personality.
But trend chasing also has pitfalls, as the Department for Education found out this week.
It opted to join with the ‘We’re sorry’ trend.
You’ve probably seen these posts on your feeds recently. They look like the formal, official apologies you might see when an organisation is in crisis media management mode.
But they are light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek apology statements, where the organisation essentially says sorry for being ‘too good’.
The Department for Education got involved this week, with posts across its social media channels.
The statement was posted on X under the caption “We’ll take this one on this chin”, which perhaps suggests it is not top of the class in English.
But a better job was done on Instagram, where it said: “We’ll take this one on the chin”.
It said in the statement: “We would like to address some matters brought to our attention.
“It appears that our efforts to give every child the best start in life have had some unexpected consequences.”
It then listed its achievements, including Best Start Free Breakfast Clubs servicing more than 2.6 million meals, leaving parents “facing alarming amounts of unexpected free time at the start of the day”.
And 30 hours of government-funded childcare saving parents £7,500 per child per year, “triggering an outrageous increase in household savings”.
It also says its drive to tackle school absence and recruit more teachers has meant classrooms have “become bustling hubs of learning, teeming with ambitious young people.”
It’s got people talking, but not in a good way.
On Instagram, one user replied: “Please, I beg you as a SEND parent and governor, take some social media advice. This isn’t funny or appropriate while you’re letting so many young people down.”
Another said: “This is shocking from a Government Department – it’s tone, it’s intent and it’s approach. Shame on you.”
While another simply said: “When a trend goes very wrong.”
And on X, a teacher posted: “The lack of self-awareness here is staggering. Schools are propped up on a daily basis by the hard work and commitment of teachers and support staff.”
Ouch.
Fake apology statements have been increasingly gaining traction on social media, and feeds have been full of them in recent weeks, with brands using “we’re sorry” to say “we’re great”.
Search ‘We’re sorry’ on Instagram, and you will be met with a seemingly endless list of results.
These posts all take the form of official-looking corporate apologies before listing achievements.
Contrition has become content.
Now, if you ignore the obvious significant risk of needing a statement that looks like this when you are in crisis media management mode, you can understand the appeal of trying to join the viral trend and potentially boosting engagement.
It can be a cost-effective way of gaining attention and highlighting changes.
But not every social media trend is right for your organisation.
And the Department for Education should have thought more carefully about the risks of joining this one.
Does it align with its values and voice? Is it the type of content followers would want and expect to see?
And would there be a backlash?
It also needed to consider whether it had missed the boat. Joining a social media trend after so many others have already done it can look a bit desperate, cringey and forced. The internet stops laughing after a while. Timing is everything.
Research from Sprout Social earlier this year found that a third of consumers think it is embarrassing when brands jump on the latest trend.
And 27 per cent think it’s only effective within 24-48 hours of a trend’s lifespan.
Even if it made these considerations and still wanted to go ahead, the execution needed to be better.
Statements boasting of boosting household savings and vast amounts of free time for parents were bound to be antagonistic. It feels smug and out of touch - everyone I speak to feels time and money poor. So, how did that wording get signed off?
I asked Jonathan Pollinger, one of our expert social media training tutors, what he made of the post.
"This ‘apology’ trend might work for a playful consumer brand like Innocent Drinks, which has permission from its followers to be cheeky, ironic and self-referential," he said.
"But it’s a no-go for a government department with serious responsibilities and a public already under financial and emotional pressure.
The question now is whether this fake apology will be quickly followed by a genuine sorry.
It might be needed.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with nearly 40 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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