Had to pick between two Instagram captions for my celeb client's fail post and chose wrong lol

So my client (a pretty big singer) accidentally posted a blurry mirror selfie with their coffee cup visible, and the shop name was front and center. I had two caption options: one funny roasting themselves, one serious apology. I went with funny and people thought I was making light of the mistake. Got so much backlash in the comments. Should I have gone with the apology instead? Has anyone else dealt with choosing tone for a celeb's social slip up?

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.ivan1mo ago

Hang on... did the client approve the funny caption before you posted? Because if they did, that's on both of you, not just you. Funny can work for a slip up like that, but only if the celeb has built that kind of relationship with their fans where self-deprecating humor is expected. If they're usually more polished and serious, then yeah, the apology would have been safer. Timing matters too... maybe wait a bit, let people get their upset out, then come back with the apology after the funny one flops.

diana201mo ago

Wait, do you think the celeb's team should have a backup plan ready for when the funny approach backfires, or is that just overthinking things?

dakotawood1mo ago

Four years ago, I watched a celeb's team try the funny approach after a mix-up with a charity donation amount. It completely blew up in their faces because the fans were already angry about the mistake. They had no backup plan, just sat there while the backlash grew for three days before finally putting out a real apology. So yeah, I'm with you on having something ready. It's not overthinking, it's just smart to have a simple apology queued up just in case.