What if we talked about underwear 🩲today?

It probably hasn't escaped your notice that a few days ago there was a bad buzz around the French briefs brand. 

I am not going to deal here with the merits of the case, leaving that to the lawyers, but I will rather be interested in the impact for the brand and what this implies in terms of crisis management and liability.

A quick reminder of the facts

The video (which I will not share here), shot during a private party on an unspecified date, shows two women and a man. The man imitates a monkey with music playing “Saga Africa” in the background, while one of the women wears black makeup. No need to beat around the bush, the attitude clearly has racist connotations.

What does this have to do with the French Slip?

In fact two of the people appearing in the video are employees of the French slip. And as soon as this relationship was established, many Internet users directly challenged the brand by calling for its boycott.

From then on, it became impossible for Le slip français not to react publicly.

Only this case raises a certain number of questions regarding the impact of activities carried out in personal life on our professional life...even if they are illegal.

What should a company do in this case?

A few years ago, 2 employees of an SFR store filmed themselves making racist comments about customers... from their workplace. The answer was simple and clear since the “fault” had taken place on working time and from the workplace.

But we are in a completely different situation here since the actions fall within a private framework (although they were no longer so once the video was published on social networks).

Let’s say it right away, there is no perfect reaction.

Either the brand condemns and sanctions (which it did here) and it responds to the demand of the pack (Twitter, media, etc.) by giving the impression of encroaching and judging the private sphere (by putting itself in conflict with labor law).

Either the brand does nothing and it is accused of condoning the actions and becomes as responsible as the incriminated employees (it's unfair but that's what happens).

In short, it's a dead end and without having asked for anything the brand is exposed and must choose between the plague and cholera.

Never forget that your employees are your ambassadors… for better or for worse

Employee Advocacy programs are flourishing in many companies to develop the employer brand. The idea is to use networks and the words of employees to disseminate a rewarding and positive image of the company. Only when these same employees do something reprehensible is the company also involved. So it’s a double-edged game.

Hence the importance of making employees aware of the risks of social networks. Remind them that they must ask themselves just one question before publishing anything on the internet:

Would I be comfortable if this post was seen by my boss or my parents? 

Let’s bet that the French underwear employees probably hadn’t asked themselves this question…

So, what does this story inspire you? Do you think that social networks definitively mark the end of the professional and personal limit and that everything we publish there can one day potentially harm us? How far and under what conditions should brands position themselves when their employees slip up in private?