This one comes to us from Montana, where a simple question on a local ice cream company's Facebook page has turned into a full-blown failtacular social media debacle: Wilcoxson's Ice Cream CEO Matt Schaeffer Sparks Social Media Firestorm, Claims Innocence.
Last week, an unidentified user on the Wilcoxson's Ice Cream Facebook page left a comment inquiring whether the company's cookies and cream flavor had gelatin in it. The commenter, who self-identified as Muslim, was concerned about the ice cream's possible pork content.
Wilcoxson's terse response: "We don't deliver outside of Montana, certainly not Pakistan." Seriously. The exchange set off a viral Facebook bomb:
The customer immediately replied, "What are u talking about!!???" said he lived in Sheridan, Wyo., and vowed not to buy Wilcoxson's ice cream anymore.Wilcoxson's CEO Matt Schaeffer says that it was "an honest mistake," claiming that the Facebook user had an icon next to his name identifying him as being from Pakistan, so he thought the customer was posting from Pakistan. Right.
With that Facebook exchange going viral, Wilcoxson's, a 22-employee company with three plants in the state, may end up losing more than just one angry customer. Schaeffer told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that he had to shut down the Facebook page due to a flood of "bad" responses, including "cuss words." Meanwhile, the backlash has spread to Reddit and Yelp, where one-star reviews -- and nasty flames calling Wilcoxson's a producer of 'racist ice cream' -- proliferated on Thursday.
So did he actually ever get an answer to his question? Or are honest answers only reserved for people who are not Muslim or not from Pakistan? More here: Montana Ice Cream Company Tells Local Muslim Customer 'We Don't Deliver to Pakistan.'