Since Friday, @wayfair , the home decor giant known for its “playful and polished tables” and “summer-time-ready looks,” has been linked to a juvenile immigrant detention center, Trump, and questionable ethics.
Aaaand just emptied my Wayfair cart that I had set up for our new house. #boycottwayfair
@rachelrose87
While the brand has spent the last five days embroiled in a public relations crisis, its social media followers have unleashed their fury. According to our social insights, Wayfair’s posts, which have averaged approximately 105 comments for the last year, have sky-rocketed to 3,000+ and 700+—the majority of which demonize the company’s actions and promise a boycott.
Post engagement is up 2,800%, with the most recent video (now three days old) achieving more than 49K views.
Booooo. Yall deleted your latest post cause of all the backlash. Lames.
@skater34us
A quick recap: 500+ Wayfair employees sent a letter to executives asking the company to stop selling beds to contractors in Texas that outfit detention centers. The company was in the process of fulfilling a $200,000 order, when on Monday, senior leadership said they would move forward with the deal.
Wayfair staffers created @wayfairwalkout—now with 24K followers—and a portion of the company’s employees walked out on Wednesday afternoon. In an apparent attempt to snuff the damage, Wayfair’s owners committed to donating $100K to the @americanredcross , but protesting staffers rejected the offer and insisted funds go to @raicestexas .
In fact, the only action we’ve seen from the brand’s social media team is the deletion of a lifestyle post featuring a bed—WOW…on Monday night.
Lucky for you, we happen to have the deleted image along with its…hmmm…”snuggly and cozy” caption…
While the brand may have gone quiet—it had been posting once per day leading up to this week, but no interaction or new posts since Monday—its fan base hasn’t. Almost 4,000 followers, on Instagram alone, have commented, almost all denouncing the company’s actions.
At such a crucial time, social media messaging is key, and we’re monitoring closely for Wayfair’s next move.