3 Times Brands Went From Foes to Friends on Social Media

What you’ll read: Taco Bell, Meta, Oldspice, what do these brands have in common? They’ve mastered witty banter. Read on for the specific use cases that got customers excited.

It’s easy for companies to see competitors as their mortal enemies, but a little healthy competition can actually boost both parties. This plays out on social media all the time, thanks to corporate profiles and the very clever employees that manage them. When done well, calling out competitors or just throwing some light shade can lead to the kind of playful banter consumers love. In that sense, brand competition on social media isn’t a fight to the death, it’s more of a friendly exchange (usually with a generous helping of sass thrown in for good measure).

Here are three times brands called out their rivals to generate buzz and get people talking — and may the best brand win.

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Taco Bell vs. Old Spice

Old Spice and Taco Bell aren’t exactly competitors; one is a red-bottled men’s grooming brand, the other a beloved fast food chain. It’s unclear, then, why Old Spice came for Taco Bell with a tweet that read: “Why is it that “fire sauce” isn’t made with any real fire? Seems like false advertising.” Maybe it was part of a push to promote Old Spice’s own advertising ethics? Whatever the inspiration, Taco Bell’s response packs in a major teaching moment.

Notice that Old Spice didn’t tag Taco Bell’s corporate account, they just mentioned Fire Sauce. Taco Bell’s response isn’t just a clever clapback, it’s also an example of the power of brand-relevant social listening. If you keep an ear to the ground for mere mentions of your brand or products, you’re more likely to find opportunities to engage with competitors and well-known brands in highly entertaining and very public fashion.

Hostess Snacks vs. MoonPie

Sometimes turning a rivalry into a social media friendship doesn’t take much more than a couple of words. In 2017, Hostess Snacks declared their Golden CupCakes the official snack cake of the solar eclipse. The tweet would probably have been relegated to the history of corporate nonsense if MoonPie hadn’t chimed in with five devastating little letters: “lol ok.”

The lesson here is that on their own, neither tweet would have made headlines or captured consumer attention. But when two competing snack companies were caught pounding their chests for the whole world to see, there was suddenly something for consumers to weigh in on. MoonPie’s response also exemplified self awareness. Instead of overselling the obvious, the celestial brand stood back and let their name be proof of which snack is more eclipse-worthy.

Meta vs. The World

Then there’s Meta. When the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp rebranded as Meta, the meme world went wild. But Meta’s social media manager was ready for the onslaught — the brand-on-brand action that unfolded simultaneously brought attention to challengers’ quips and helped solidify the new Meta brand in the public consciousness.

Kraft posted a Meta logo made out of macaroni noodles, and Meta labeled them an “impasta.”Wendy’s, Slim Jim, and H. J. Heinz & Co. made anagram-heavy meat jokes, and Meta was pleased to “meat” them. When 7-Eleven said it was changing its name to 18, Meta even made them a new logo with the infinity-style blue Meta M repositioned as an eight.

While brands that called out Facebook’s new name were likely looking to jump on the rebrandwagon, the lesson here is that Meta didn’t resist. By welcoming the challenge, Meta allowed each brand to have its moment in the sunshine while spinning each joke in its favor by laying another brick in the wall toward acceptance of the Metaverse. That’s the key to turning brand foes into brand friends — let your personality shine through as you share the spotlight so everybody wins.