The Indianapolis Super Bowl Video Fiasco

I’d be the first to say… I’m not sure fiasco is the right word but let’s get down to what happened.

This week the Indiana Convention and Visitors Association released an online video. The video was produced and billed to be a parody of the 1985 Bears Super Bowl Shuffle. The video was made to be played to meeting planners and other private individuals. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the video was posted live to YouTube and was almost immediately picked up by local critics… who blasted it across the interweb. It hit a mid-stride when Deadspin picked up the video and blasted the city of Indianapolis. Before its removal, the video was approach 10,000 views.

I wanted an opinion from Facebook and we are now approaching 70+ comments on the video. The discussion is excellent and has brought up some interesting points.

As of last night… the video has been removed from YouTube. The question now remains (and will always remain) is it smart for an entity or individual to remove a piece of content just because of negative comments?

I’m torn on the issue. I’m the first to say that negative content online is overhyped. I believe it does have negative ramifications on brands but it is NOT as powerful as we would like to think.

However, I do believe that it was the wrong idea to remove the video. You made a mistake… we get that. You produced and distributed a video that while… fun… was not as socially accepted.

What would I have done differently? Crowd sourced a new video… show the highlights of the city using social workers, bankers, restaurateurs, business owners, and politicians. Keep the bad video up and admit you made a mistake. It is not going to overshadow the Super Bowl.