Would You Rather: Keep Stakeholders or Lose All of Them?

Snapchat recently found itself in hot water after it allowed an ad slip through the cracks that asked users if they’d rather “Slap Rihanna” or “Punch Chris Brown”.

Aside from this being an ad that is offensive due to the carefree attitude towards assault, this was equally offensive because Rihanna was abused by her then-boyfriend, Chris Brown, back in 2009. Clearly, this isn’t something that Snapchat users should have to see nor is it something that should be made into a joke.

This was an ad purchased by the game Would You Rather? and according to Snapchat, this ad was able to find its way through a review process which checks for content that is against its policies. Snapchat shared that the advertisements are purchased through an automated process and then some ads are filtered through an automated review while others are approved by a human. In this case, the ad was approved by a Snapchat representative which makes this a whole lot more mind boggling.

Aside from Would You Rather? clearly not having policies in place to prevent tasteless ads, this then made its way through Snapchat’s processes. At the very least two pairs of eyes (one from Would You Rather? and one from Snapchat) saw this ad before it was released. Snapchat is the one being held accountable in the public eye, however.

The media have questioned Snap’s processes and how this could have happened. There have also been calls for a thorough examination of the ad reviewal process to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again. The backlash felt by Snapchat was immense as it subsequently lost $800 million in market value after Rihanna chastised the company. Some users even committed to deleting the app in solidarity with Rihanna, domestic abusive survivors, and to remain inline with their morals.

Clearly a celebrity statement can have impact on the success of a company. But more than that, a company’s disregard for its stated policies and procedures that impact its stakeholders which then leads to a mistake like this can cause so much more damage.

So this is where I question all of you. Feel free to answer one, none, or all!

Do you think that Snapchat should have an ad review process completed solely by a human? If so, should it be just one person or more determining what passes through?

What else would you recommend Snapchat do to make sure its ad review process does not allow something like this happen again?

Do all companies with ads produced by a third party have an obligation to have a review process to filter out certain advertisements?

Is the public outrage misguided in its focus on Snapchat? Should it be focused on Would You Rather? for creating the content?