· happened: In July 2012, replying to an Old Spice tweet from the 9th
Old Spice mocked Taco Bell's fire sauce and got the punch straight back
On 9 July 2012 the Old Spice account tweeted a jab at Taco Bell's "fire sauce", saying it isn't made with any real fire and that this seemed like false advertising. Taco Bell replied by asking whether Old Spice's deodorant is made with really old spices. Old Spice came back again — per Adweek, with "Depends. Do you consider volcanos, tanks and freedom to be spices?" — and the exchange was covered by ABC News, PR Daily and Adweek itself as an example of brands talking to each other in public.
«@OldSpice Is your deodorant made with really old spices?»
Taco Bell wins here on economy: it uses the other brand's own name as ammunition and needs nothing else. That kind of reply only ships when the social team is allowed to post without three rounds of sign-off, because four hours later it isn't funny any more. It's also a good reminder that brand-on-brand needling works when neither party sells the same thing: nobody is choosing between a burrito and a deodorant, so the audience can laugh without feeling sold to. And Old Spice, who started it, had the sense to keep playing rather than delete, which is half the credit.
Source: Adweek
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