28/04/2015 Matt Horne

Grape Nuts Social Media Fail

If you’re a fan of breakfast cereals that taste like cardboard, you might have tried Post Cereals’ Grape Nuts. It’s a “healthy” breakfast for the nutritionally concerned consumer.

Look, here’s what the box looks like.

Front of the Grape Nuts cereal box
Mmmmm these grape nuts sure look tasty

How’s this a social media fail? Let’s have a look shall we?

It’s all about the back

When you turn the box around, this is what it looks like.

Grape nuts back of the cereal box
All this in just one serving!!!!!

Still not sure what’s gone wrong here?? Take a closer look at their social section:

Grape Nuts Cereal Box Social Media details

Now, try tweeting them on that user name

Grape Nuts social media fail
Twitter just doesn’t have the grapes or nuts you were looking for

Ooops

What’s gone wrong?

Well it’s quite simple really. Post’s marketing team wanted to look all cool and connected, so included some social profiles in the packaging design. Only somewhere in between sign off and going to print, they didn’t bother actually setting themselves up online.

Further adventures in failing

It’s not just Twitter where Post failed to put some Grapes Nuts. Just take a look at what’s actually in the cereal.

Post Cereals Grape Nuts Ingredients

Not sure if that’s a viable case for false advertising, but there definitely seems to be a lack of grapes and or nuts in that list.

How can you avoid this fail?

It’s pretty simple really, if you’re going to put a social profile on any kind of printed material, make sure you’ve actually created the profile first.

If you're going to put a Twitter account on your packaging, make sure you've actually created the account Share on X

If, like Post, you’re struggling with Twitter or social media in general, get in touch, and see how I can help you.

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Matt Horne

Freelance digital marketing and social media consultant dedicated to making your internet awesome.