Virgin Trains may wish to more careful about who they put in charge of their social media after today's Twitter faux pas. Earlier this morning, a young female passenger tweeted her displeasure at the customer service on her train:
Thanks to the immediacy (and very public platform) of social media, Emily Lucinda Cole received a response in just a few minutes. The perfect opportunity for the company to make a swift apology, right any perceived wrong and maintain the goodwill of the customer and the public at large.
Right?
Unfortunately, in what can only be seen as a colossal miscalculation of the mood, the response was this:
An offhand term of endearment from a train manager in person is understandable to most people, but the calculated ridicule of a young woman seeking respect from one of the UK's dominant businesses is completely unjustifiable.
Public Outcry
While Virgin Trains EC's ungainly response received a handful of likes, presumably marking the approval of a portion of the public for their brusque response, many were quick to rush to the defence of Emily Lucinda Cole.
This user highlighted the sexism demonstrated in the reply:
Others commented on the remarkable speed with which 2018 was tainted by #everyday sexism:
One savvy user even correctly anticipated Virgin Trains EC deleting the tweet, adding:
Marketing with Humour
If I were inclined to rush to the defence of Virgin Trains EC, I would say that humour has become a popular method of deflecting criticism. James Blunt does this with admirable panache on his own Twitter account:
Indeed, entire brands have been built up on their ability to have a giggle. Take Innocent, for example:
The clear (and key) difference between the marketing humour of James Blunt and Innocent and of the mistake of Virgin Trains EC, is that, while these brands are having a good laugh at themselves, the latter appeared to be mocking their customer.
Although bad enough on its own, the fact that it specifically followed a complaint into their treatment of female customers makes the slip up frankly absurd.
At the start of a year following #MeToo, it's surprising that anyone could have misread the tone this badly.
An Overdue Apology
Following a tide of public condemnation on Twitter, Virgin Trains EC released this statement:
Suitably contrite given the offence caused, it's a shame this couldn't have been their response the first time.