On Tuesday, the world-famous cookieOreo attempted to set a record with a post on its Facebook Wall. The post read, “‘Like’ this post to join Oreo fans around the world in setting a Guinness World Record for most ‘Likes’ to a post in 24 hours. Oreo is the world’s favorite cookie, and with your help, it will be the most ‘Liked.'”
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Five hours after the record was awarded to Oreo, notorious rapper Lil’ Wayne snatched it.
Shortly after Oreo’s post surfaced, Lil Wayne announced to his Facebook fan-base that he was also going after the Guinness World Record for most Facebook likes in 24 hours.
At the end of the 24-hour period, Oreo had 114 619 likes; five hours later, when the rapper’s 24-hour period had expired, his post had 588 243 likes, putting Oreo’s bid for the Guinness World Record in a distant second.
Oreo’s Facebook page has close to 16.7-million likes compared to Lil Wayne’s fan-base of 20- million. However, the high level of engagement between Weezy and his fans tipped the balance in his favor.
Lil Wayne’s digital manager, Mazy Kazerooni, said that the stunt was intended to show off Lil’ Wayne’s social media power. “I want people to think ‘Bieber, Gaga and Lil Wayne.’ The traffic we do is ridiculous and no one really knows,” Kazerooni said.
There is a valuable lesson to be learnt from this stunt. In one 24 hour period, Oreo tried to up its brand by appealing to cookie lovers around the world. Lil Wayne “stole” the prize from the brand in an attempt to prove a point. Imagine if it was more than just a vanity gesture imagine if he had said: “Like this page in 24 hours and I will donate the amount of likes in dollars to a worthy charity.”
Unfortunately, this record was all about vanity.
