Welcome to the world of ‘weird brand Twitter,’ where Hamburger Helper is bae, DiGiorno Pizza is your Valentine and JCPenney forces you to question their sobriety. It’s funny, but is it working for these brands?

Chapin Clark, EVP, managing director and copywriter for R/GA, and Katie Notopoulos, senior editor for Buzzfeed, join together to discuss the key players in weird brand Twitter, and how these brands are influencing the way we view them.

Clark said he spends a lot of time looking at what different brands are doing on social media, and began to notice what certain brands – like Denny’s, Hamburger Helper and IHOP – were tweeting. He described feeling a mix of things when looking at these tweets, finding some funny, some a little odd, and others manipulative and creepy.

After reading an article in The New Inquiry on “Weird Corporate Twitter,” he began to see more examples of brands catching on to the trend, and began thinking of it as a good topic for SXSW as it had become a ‘thing’ among marketers. He immediately thought of Notopolous as a co-presenter for the session.

“Katie knows the subcultures and the vernacular of the Internet better than anyone I know,” Clark said. “If you had to identify someone as the expert on Weird Twitter, it would be Katie.”

Notopolous even compiled an oral history of Weird Twitter for Buzzfeed that Clark described as “the closest thing to definitive there is.”

Clark believes brands are turning to weird Twitter as a way to get younger generations to identify with them, and they’re using social media as a means of doing this because of how personal the interaction can be.

“Fundamentally, it’s no different from what brands have always tried to do: using the argot of younger consumers – teens – to try to entertain them or inspire an affinity,” Clark said. “To make them think, ‘Ah, this is my kind of brand. They get me.’”

As someone who works in advertising, Clark is sympathetic to these companies’ attempts to remain relevant in social media, where consumers can say whatever they want about these companies and their marketing strategies.

“Everyone knows social media is where these brands’ customers are spending all their time,” Clark said. “Companies have to try something there or they risk extinction.”

However, as a writer and “someone who values original creative expression,” Clark is appalled that brands continue to choose this tactic of cultural appropriation.

“It’s the Internet equivalent of coming home from school one day to find your dad wearing an LA Dodgers cap backward and listening to the new Nicki Minaj album,” Clark said. “It’s an affront to nature.”

Although his feelings might be conflicted, Clark isn’t planning on swaying your opinion of weird brand Twitter during SXSW Interactive. He and Notopoulos plan to discuss the future of the trend, and whether or not it’s acceptable for companies to imitate the way many millennials converse.

“If people come away from our talk more prone to noticing – and questioning – the communication tactics of companies online, I will be happy,” Clark said. “A savvy audience is a better audience, for brands as well as SXSW presenters.”

To see more examples of brands trying to be cool, check out the Twitter account @BrandsSayingBae. For those who are still trying to understand why brands would say ‘bae,’ listen to the sound clip on Buzzfeed from the CEO of Taco Bell.

Session Details

Monday, March 16
5-6 p.m.

Austin Convention Center
Next Stage
500 E Cesar Chavez St

For more information on this Weird Brand Twitter session, visit http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_IAP40217.