Keurig made headlines this weekend when the coffeemaker company revealed on Twitter that it had pulled ads from Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, prompting angry Hannity fans to destroy their Keurigs on camera.
However, it appears that the company’s CEO is not too happy with the publicity.
In a letter to staff obtained by the Washington Post, Keurig CEO Bob Gamgort wrote that the social media team should not have broadcast the company’s decision to temporarily yank advertising from Hannity’s show. A spokesperson for Keurig told TPM that the company was not releasing the letter but confirmed that a note was sent to employees Monday morning.
Gamgort argued that it was “unacceptable” for the social media team to broadcast the company’s decision on advertising strategy.
“This gave the appearance of ‘taking sides’ in an emotionally charged debate that escalated on Twitter and beyond over the weekend, which was not our intent,” Gamgort said of the company’s tweet, according to the Washington Post. “I want you to know the decision to communicate our short-term media actions on Twitter was done outside of company protocols. Clearly, this is an unacceptable situation that requires an overhaul of our issues response and external communications policies and the introduction of safeguards to ensure this never happens again.”
“I apologize for any negativity that you have experienced as a result of this situation and assure you that we will learn and improve going forward,” he added later in the letter, per the Washington Post.
Keurig pulled its ads from Hannity’s show after Hannity interviewed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who was recently accused of pursuing relationships with teenage girls, on his radio show. Gamgort wrote that Hannity’s comments “sparked a significant number of consumer complaints” but noted that the Fox host later apologized.
Read the full letter as posted at the Washington Post.
