Image from Oreo’s Facebook page
In conjunction with Pride Month, Oreo Cookies made waves on Facebook on Monday evening by coming out firmly in support of gay rights/marriage. Posting a picture of a rainbow colored Oreo (which looks delicious, by the way) featuring a caption reading “Proudly support love!” to their Timeline, the popular sandwich cookie was bombarded with likes and comments within mere moments of the post going live.
Far from bringing people together, the black and white cookie appeared to divide social media users on the issue of gay rights, at least those who chose to comment on Facebook. Many have leapt to support Oreo while others have called for an outright boycott of the product.
Reaction to the Image/statement was not confined to Oreo’s Facebook page, however. Less than 24 hours after the image appeared, social media had generated over 11, 600 mentions of the topic across the web.
Twitter dominates the conversation (90%) with reaction to the “Rainbow Oreo” spreading quickly across the platform over the course of Monday evening and all day Tuesday.
Sentiment
Social media users appear to be overwhelmingly supportive of Oreo’s stance, with the more critical tone of the company’s Facebook wall not carrying over to Twitter. Just under 81% of posts with clear sentiment attached are positive. This is somewhat surprising given some of the Facebook comments highlighted in this piece over at Buzzfeed. It appears that the more vehement pushback seems to have been contained largely to Oreo’s actual Timeline.
Kudos to the Oreo company for publicly supporting gay rights at risk of alienating their more ignorant customers. Impressive.
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) June 26, 2012
An official post to Oreo’s Facebook page earlier today. Just another reason why Oreo is my favorite cookie. twitpic.com/a0ttbr
— Misha (@mbuggie42) June 26, 2012
All of this outrage and threats of boycotts of Oreos means one thing: buying a bag on the way home.
— Mike Toole (@MichaelToole) June 26, 2012
Thank you @Oreo for standing up for love and human decency. Don’t listen to the hate for that awesome picture and message. Much respect.
— Blake Tharp! (@WBlakeT) June 26, 2012
The backlash against #oreos is one of the most depressing things I’ve seen today. I whole heartedly support their public display of support.
— Desgardes (@Desgardes) June 26, 2012
Guys, please give the Oreo Facebook page some love. They’re getting a lot of hate for their Gay Pride photo: facebook.com/oreo
— ジニー (@mahoumelonball) June 26, 2012
Good for Oreo! -> Oreo sparks fierce debate on Facebook as it comes out in support of gay pride wallblog.co.uk/2012/06/26/ore…
— Emma Glazier (@emmaglazier) June 26, 2012
Support is by no means unanimous, mind you.
I’m done with Oreos now! Stuff it Nabisco! Oreo Pride: Rainbow-Stuffed Cookie Sparks BoycottThis news link tiny.iavian.net/vx
— Max McLeieer (@MMcLeieer) June 26, 2012
RT @Euangelion: Well that stinks, #oreo just landed themselves in my consumer boycott list. Never buying one again.
— Mason Chain (@masonchain) June 26, 2012
The Facebook image and post have apparently been removed, likely due to the sheer volume of replies and the heated nature of the ensuing debate. It appears, however, that the post seems to have “worked” in terms of driving social conversation and getting the nation thinking and talking about the now century-old cookie. Will it translate to higher sales? Lowered sales due to the threats of boycott? Time will tell the tale.
Is there a reason for the discrepancy between the Facebook post reaction and the overall social media reaction to the Oreo Pride post? Did you weigh in on the subject via social media as well? Tell us about it in the comments! And for previous Radian6 coverage of Pride Month and social media, be sure to check out this post as well as this one, both authored by our own Jenn Seeley.
