The Dallas Cowboys are taking a page from Jimmy Kimmel’s playbook by releasing their own version of the popular “Mean Tweets” skit. Originally introduced by Kimmel, the skit stars celebrities reading mean tweets aloud from fans. In the Dallas Cowboy’s rendition, it stars popular players like Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, and more, poking a little fun at themselves with not-so-nice tweets from fans.
In the video, which is hosted on Dallas Cowboys website, the players are seen both reading and reacting to tweets. While some are more general, such as the tweet read by Tony Romo, which asks if the Dallas Cowboys could be the pallbearers at the fan’s funeral, so they can, “let him down gently one more time,” some are pretty hilarious. As Romo finishes reading the tweet, he responds, “Well, just give us your number.” As the video continues, some players read the tweets, while others also show a bit of a reaction too, which adds a level of humor to the video.
Here are a few things we can learn from this comedic campaign:
Face Your Critics
Any company or sports team is going to have tweets like these. While there’s no debating that you need to develop a robust strategy to listen and track customer complaints and pain points, it’s also important to develop a plan to respond to them.
Use Humor to Your Advantage
It’s okay to poke fun at yourself every once in awhile. Having the star athletes read and respond to the tweets in a video is a great way to showcase that the team is aware of some of their own gripes or pain points. Using video in this situation also helps to add a personal layer back to the snarky tweets sent in, showing that the players are people too.
Empower & Train Employees to Help Respond
This video was a great way to respond directly to fans. Companies can replicate this as well, whether it’s through a video response from subject matter experts, or having an honest discussion with decision makers on how to respond to more snarky or sensitive questions in a less corporate way. Not all snarky tweets come from trolls, and too often do reactive responses start with, “Sorry about XX.” Having community managers, subject matter specialists, legal and customer service employees come together to refresh established Q&A messaging is a great start.