The McDonald’s Fiasco

A short piece of news last week, one with a lasting effect on the web, was an attempted  social media campaign by McDonald’s, which has now been dubbed the #McFail. McDonald’s took advantage of the social network Twitter’s promoted tweet program, where companies can pay to have branded blurbs running amongst organic content.

Seems like an easy thing for marketers to adopt. However, McDonald’s program didn’t exactly go as planned. when their hashtag, #McDStories, were used against them. The fast-food conglomerate had intended to tell happy, wholesome stories about how their food is made, but Twitter users had other ideas in mind, posting comments about heart attacks and well, the benefits of McDonald’s while under the influence. For example, a tweet from @PETA encouraged McDonald’s to come back with:

That posting is absolutely FALSE McNuggets are NOT made from mechanically separated chicken. Only USDA inspected white meat.

Whoops. McDonald’s original tweet, “When u make something w/pride, people can taste it,” can still be seen at the top of the hashtag results page, however, that position is a benefit of being a “Top Tweet,” which may not be a title McDonald’s necessarily wants anymore. Top Tweets become so based on an algorithm created by Twitter based on extremely high engagement when people do a search for a term, in this case #McDStories, most likely to see the humorous non-sponsored Tweets circulating.

I guess next time, if you’re a company which is a “lightening rod in the first place,” it might be best to just make a commercial next time.

Spring 2010 Organic Buzz

Green Toys & The Green Glass Company are as Green as a Company Can Get!

Our St. Patrick’s Day COLOR ME GREEN GIVEAWAY was announced this week; so I felt like this would be an appropriate time to spotlight 2 of our favorite “Green Companies” in the Organic Bug family.  Honestly, we don’t play favorites- but in honor of St. Patty’s Day- Green Toys and The Green Glass company is about as green as they come!

Green Toys
Green Toys makes a line of eco-friendly classic toys that are free of phthalates or Bispenol-A (BPA).  These unique toys are constructed from recycled milk containers.  Founders Robert von Goeben and Laurie Hyman created this company out of their desire to provide consumers with an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional plastic toys while making an effort to improve and preserve the world around us.  Their toys have been nationally recognized by media, and have won awards from Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Dr. Toys, and Fat Brian.  We love them because they have adopted environmentally sustainable practices into their manufacturing by:

• Doing business locally. Their operations are located within close proximity of one another in California, helping to further reduce its carbon footprint by avoiding long transportation distances.
• Packaging their products in recycled corrugated boxes with no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties.
• The toys themselves are 100% recyclable too. So, not only are they earth-friendly they are ready for your recycling bin.

See for yourself in this You Tube video:

The Green Glass Company

What is so special about The Green Glass Company you ask?

It is committed to using recycled materials: Discarded bottles that would have ended up in landfills are transformed into usable and gorgeous pieces of glassware.

Each glass is unique: Each glass from  The Green Glass Company “Copenhagen” Tumbler Set is made from an emerald green Carlsberg beer bottle.  The slight variations of color and shape make each glass a unique character and bring out the magic of the set!

Made in the USA  Baby! While glassware made from The Green Glass Company is collected and enjoyed all over the world- it is made in a glass studio located in the peaceful woodlands of Northern Wisconsin.

The Green Glass Company is committed to preserving our natural resources. Owners Christa Donohue and Brian Roome ensure that every step of the process is done in the most environmentally friendly manner possible.

The quality is superior: Each piece of glassware is produced with great attention to detail. The Green Glass Company uses its own unique process to convert these bottles into reusable drinking glasses. This commitment to high quality has helped to make The Green Glass Company the largest producer of reclaimed glassware in the world.

And, as you may have heard- we will be giving away a Green Glass Company “Copenhagen” Tumbler Set and a Green Toys Recycled Plastic Dump Truck on Wednesday March 17.  Be sure to check the contest rules so you may also enter for a chance to win!

St. Patrick’s Day COLOR ME GREEN GIVEAWAY, March 17, 2010

Before you head off to drink green organic beer at your local Pub Crawl on St. Patty’s Day, join our shenanigans on Twitter! Our GIVEAWAY has a new twist this time around so pay attention!

Our crafty Organic Bugs want you to get to know us a little better. So, on St. Patrick’s Day I will pose 2 questions (something like~what are some of our favorite products, what specials are we having, what are some gift ideas we love~you get the idea) at 2 different times during the day on Twitter and you can go find the answers on Organic Bug!

On St. Patrick’s Day, Wednesday, March 17^th, I will tweet the first question on Twitter @OrganicBug at 1pm EST and the second question will follow at 3pm EST.

How to Participate:

1. First make sure to follow me on Twitter @OrganicBug
2. Watch for the 2 contest questions that I will ask on Twitter March 17^th at 1pm and 3pm EST.
3. Visit Organic Bug to find the answer.
4. Tweet the correct answer and the 10^th person to answer correctly WINS*! Include #ecogiveaway as your hashtag. Your tweet will look something like this:

@OrganicBug The answer to question 1 is… #ecogiveaway

And yes, it is possible for the same person to be the winner of both prizes IF you answer both questions correctly and happen to be the 10^th person to do so for each question.

And yes, we will ship your prize to most addresses in the US including Alaska, Hawaii + US Territories, APO/FPO + Canada.

We will notify the winners via Twitter and winners will be posted on our Feed Your Eco Blog!

*Winners have 48 hours to respond to our notification with shipping information otherwise another winner will be chosen. Note that we do not share any information you give us during this or any Giveaway by Organic Bug.

Now that you’re all jazzed up, see what GREEN goodies you can win during our St. Patrick’s Day COLOR ME GREEN GIVEAWAY!

Prize #1: The Green Glass Company is committed to preserving our natural resources so the company developed a process to turn reclaimed bottles into usable glassware! You can win a set of “Copenhagen” Tumblers made from the bottom portion of Carlsberg beer bottles. They are fun, festive, unique and Green in more ways than one! Set of 4 emerald green 8-ounce glasses valued at $33

Prize #2:  Green Toys set out to provide parents with a healthy alternative to traditional plastic toys. And so the company has designed a line of rough ‘n tumble plastic toys made from recycled milk jugs! Green Toys are not only healthy for kids, they put less stress on good ole mother Earth. You can win a recycled plastic Recycling Truck that not only teaches youngsters about recycling~it is recyclable, too! Interactive toy truck valued at $25

So, join the shenanigans on Wednesday, March 17^th! I’ll tweet the first question at 1pm EST and the second question at 3pm EST. Go ahead and mark your calendar; set an alarm for 2 chances to win!

Dance as if no one were watching,
Sing as if no one were listening,
And live every day as if it were your last.
–Irish Saying

Let the games begin!

Music Scene Goes Green

By nature, the touring industry has a negative impact on the environment because of the combined carbon footprint of tours, concerts, videos and albums. We are left to wonder, is there anything really green about the music scene? There wasn’t until Guster’s vocalist/guitarist Adam Gardner and his wife, Lauren Sullivan, founded Reverb- an environmental organization devoted to greening the music industry. Since its start-up in 2004, Reverb cut more than 67,000 tons of carbon from the music industry and greened 81 tours by creating outreach displays at concerts, partnering up with environmentalist groups, offering bio diesel fuel for vehicles, and encouraging recycling and waste reduction. Taking Reverb one step further, the couple started the Green Music Group, a project created to inspire environmental change. The GMG launched on January 30, 2010 and is founded by a team of musicians, fans, record labels, and music industry leaders who seek to inspire environmental change through powerful music performances that spread awareness of global issues. With the support of founding members (including Dave Mathews Band, Linkin Park, The Roots, Sheryl Crow, Barenaked Ladies, Bonnie Raitt and Maroon 5), GMG wants to “make big changes by targeting small tasks to use the collective power of the music community to take action and bring about universal environmental change”.

So what does the future look like for GMG and the music industry? We can expect to see new eco-friendly standards for venues, labels and tours, green grants given to up- and-coming artists, environmental challenges aimed at members and prizes donated to groups.

If you want to support positive environmental action within the music industry you can sign up to become a part of the GMG crew. To show their appreciation, you are automatically entered to win an autographed eco-friendly guitar and you will even receive a free song from the launch session. Not a bad gig, eh?

Stay up to date by following the Green Music Group on Twitter!

Become a fan of the Green Music Group on Facebook

Check out this video from the Launch Event!

Contest Winners!

Thank you all so much for your participation! We sure did have fun reading over all of your awesome comments! We have picked 3 lucky winners for this Eco-giveaway contest.

From Twitter, Michelle aka CanadianGoddess, has won the Recycled Woven Juice Box Mini Bag. Congratulations Michelle!

Our Facebook winner is Amber, the 5 in 1 Retro Kitchen Bags go to her, hopefully she can get rid of all those plastic bags accumulating in her pantry! Just remember to recycle! Congrats Amber!

Last but not least, Lois has won us over with her answer as to why she should win. I mean come on, her daughter was born on Earth day! That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing that with us Lois, we hope you enjoy your new Stainless Water Bottle!

We had a lot of fun with this, hopefully you did too! If you liked these products and want to browse more please visit our site.

We are always open to any questions or ideas you may have as to how we can further lessen the environmental impact in our day to day business! So, feel free to bug us! feedback@organicbug.com

Cheers to a healthy 2010!