11/11/2021
When a Thank You isn’t really a Thank You and other social media mistakes companies make every day. Part 1
Today is November 11th. It’s Veterans Day here in the United States. It is a day for honoring military veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable). It is also one of the many events and holidays that have been misappropriated by companies and their social media channels.
Some of the commercialized posts I have seen today include:
“Thank you for your service!!! Please come in and enjoy 10% off of your order today…”
“Veteran’s Day Sale – 10% Off at __________.com Use Code ThankYou21 at Checkout!
20% Off for Veterans at the _________ retail stores”
“VETERAN’S DAY SALE TODAY AND TOMORROW 30-40% OFF SELECT HOMEGOODS*. *Exclusions Apply”
…and there are hundreds of other examples, all with some patriotic-looking image pulled from a stock photography library usually emblazoned with the words “Thank You!”.
Unfortunately, the Thank You is not really a Thank You… the message is anything but sincere thanks for Veterans or their service. Those messages are self-serving attempts to generate profits using the sentiment that should be reserved for a very select group of people who actually served. It is a practice that has been going on for a long time that is only amplified by the ease of creating social media posts…but that doesn’t make it proper or honorable in any way.
So, here is what I propose, let’s just go back to celebrating Veterans Day by sincerely thanking veterans for their service to our Country. Fill your social media channels with messages that are thoughtful, sincere, and meaningful, and stay away from the trite canned messages. Then, if you are really feeling nostalgic, go out on your back porch at 11:00AM next Veterans Day and ring a bell as loud as you can like our grandparents did.