Sunny Co Clothing: When Social Media Marketing is TOO Successful

If you’ve been on Instagram sometime in the past 24 hours, then chances are you’ve seen this red one-piece…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTmsykflZzx/

Sunny Co Clothing, founded by two current seniors at the University of Arizona, promised a “free” suit (customers still had to pay shipping costs) to anyone who reposted the image and tagged the company’s Instagram page.

If you say gullible really slow it kinda sounds like "repost for a free swimsuit from sunny co clothing"

— Terrance Jamarcus (@tj_harmon) May 3, 2017

Instagram users’ feeds were soon flooded.

Everyone girl this summer in their Sunny Co Clothing suit pic.twitter.com/5lKimCGYXX

— Luke Boles (@LukeBoles56) May 3, 2017

For Sunny Co:
The good news: Their marketing campaign had gone viral.
The bad news: Their marketing campaign had gone viral.
… would they be able to keep up with demand?

Sunny Co Clothing's marketing team today: pic.twitter.com/YRUiYH6Hq3

— Kevin Schmevin (@Acecicle) May 3, 2017

Following the 3pm cut-off for reposting, Sunny seemed to have realized they were in over their heads and decided retroactively to “reserve the right to cap the promotion if deemed necessary.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTpWfzyFoDs/

When you realize you got scammed by Sunny Co Clothing and aren't getting a free swimsuit. pic.twitter.com/G2BWBUe85q

— Austin Pendergist (@apthirteen) May 3, 2017

The takeaway?

For Sunny Co: Next time disclose that there are limited supplies in the original promotion.

For consumers: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Even if you are one of the lucky few to snag the “free” suit before supplies run out, Sunny Co has still collected your valuable information, such as your name, number, and email address, that can then be sold to marketers.