Digithoughts

Last week, GoDaddy CEO Bob Parson posted a video of himself shooting and killing an elephant in Zimbabwe that had been causing significant damage to a village. The video shows Parson taking the animal down with a rifle and the villagers’ later butchering it for meat. Soon after, backlash ensued; customers exited GoDaddy for other hosting companies – with PETA leading the charge. But regardless of how you feel about animal rights, there is another issue: how transparent should you be in the digital age?

One big recent trend in advertising is transparency. Brands are now allowing themselves to be more vulnerable; using both positive and negative user reviews, CEOs speaking directly to customers on Twitter, etc. But how far should you really go?

There needs to be a carefully considered balance between being viewed as accessible and open, and not damaging your brand’s identity. Really, we don’t need to know everything. Parson could have shared the fact that he goes to Africa every year for humanitarian reasons; there would have been no real debate.  I’m sure he has done much more than get rid of a “problem elephant,” but from now on that video will overshadow any further work he does there.  It’s unfortunate since charity work in impoverished areas is almost always seen as a good thing for brands.

If you are a public facing member of a company in any way, you need to make sure what you post is in line with both your company and your customer’s values. Had Parson been the CEO of a rifle company, there would have been no problem.

To me, this is a classic case of over sharing.  Do I agree with Parson using his money to help people in Africa? Of course. Do I agree with killing elephants? Absolutely not. In fact I couldn’t even watch the entire, graphic video. But Parson could have avoided this controversy by not posting the video, much less bragging about it. I’m sure there are many CEOs and company people who are hunters, but we don’t need to see them in action or their kill’s meat being harvested on a Thursday morning.

So before you post your latest big game hunting conquest (or some kind of equivalent) remember that much like elephants, the Internet never forgets. Thankfully for Parson, most of us eventually do.

Reena Leone Marketing and Social Media Coordinator

Read more from the Web Trends category. If you would like to leave a comment, click here: Comment or stay up to date with this post via RSS, or you can Trackback from your site.