Over the past few days, Lego, Tide, and KIA have done comical takes on the white and gold dress.
A few people remarked this social done well.
Is this really social done well? Or is it just something amusing for a few moments?
If we judge by what's popular, what makes people laugh, and gets plenty of shares – yes, it's done well.
If we judge by increasing propensity to purchase, increasing repeat sales, creating advocates – then it's not so good.
I suspect none of these posts will help any of the brands in the long run. Most will even do some harm.
If you have a community, you probably have a content plan. This content plan takes members on a journey. It educates them, increase their sense of connection to one another, and ensures they feel a part of the community's journey.
Every time you deviate from that plan you're delaying how long it takes to achieve it. You see some organisations going wildly astray here. It's a Madonna falling joke one day, a post about a coloured dress the next, then a Leonard Nimoy Tribute.
The problem here is measurement. It's easier to measure social professionals by the number of likes, clicks, and shares than via the end result. Hence the drive to perform any action, no matter how ridiculous, to achieve these metrics.
That hurts you. There are plenty of times to take a topical news story and put a community spin on it, getting a quick laugh isn't one of them.
Stick to the plan, hit your goals, and don't try to appeal to the masses.