Trial by Twitter
Olivia’s Oasis is a small Quebec company that manufactures a line of specialty soaps. Lassonde Industries is a big Quebec company that produces fruit juices under the name Oasis. A few years ago Lassonde sued Deborah Kudzman, the owner of Olivia’s Oasis, claiming trademark infringement. The Quebec Superior Court decided in favour of Ms. Kudzman and ordered Lassonde to pay her legal fees of $100,000. Amazingly, the Quebec Court of Appeal reversed this decision, which meant Ms. Kudzman had to pay her legal fees herself.
This reversal ignited a firestorm on social media sites in Quebec and elsewhere. Guy Lepage, a popular Quebec television personality told his 100,000+ followers on Twitter (now called X) that he would immediately stop drinking Oasis juice products and urged his audience to do the same. Facebook users all over the province responded with anger, furious that Lassonde would sue a start-up soap maker because it believed shoppers would confuse soap with juice. (The judge in the lower court case noted that one product is edible, the other is not).
Amazingly, this electronic tsunami caused a seven-year legal battle to be resolved in 48 hours. Jean Gattuso, Lassonde’s Chief Operating Officer personally visited Ms Kudzman and promised that despite the court’s ruling, the company would cover all her legal fees.
There are some key lessons and implications to take away from this episode. Yes print, television, radio and face-to-face contact are still around, but the world has moved on and it seems the first choice for transmitting communications is now digital. Social media currently reaches roughly five billion people (there are about eight billion people on the planet). Like it or not, we live in a fully wired, round-the-clock and almost inescapable electronic universe.
What are the risks and benefits of this transformation? I will not dwell on the benefits, since opinions differ widely. As far as risks, many healthcare professionals are choosing to solicit Google reviews after treating patients, asking for feedback or comments on their recent experiences. The results? Most of the postings are positive and gratifying. Unsurprisingly, a small minority of disgruntled patients, given the opportunity, turn to social media to vent their frustration or criticize the interactions with their dentist, physician and/or the office staff.
As a practice consultant, I urge healthcare professionals NOT to respond to unpleasant or nasty reviews on social media. You will lose the argument and may risk creating a reputation-damaging adversary. Soliciting social media reviews falls under the warning of “be careful what you wish for.” We cannot please everyone and we all have to suffer with adverse outcomes on occasion – it simply comes with the territory.
Best to focus on always practising to meet the highest standards of care and ignore what is being said about you in the electronic world. Makes for an easier night’s sleep.
