Sandra Theres DonyAccording to reports from the Financial Times, Amazon has finally decided to put a full stop to the highly mocked scheme where it paid workers to tweet about the absolute bliss of working at Amazon (If you sense sarcasm here, you are on the right track with the tone). If Amazon thought that it can artificially manufacture goodwill with money, then the e-commerce giant was absolutely wrong. Because their rather preposterous plan bounced back like a boomerang to hit it right on the face. And now after facing mockery and criticism from quite a number of people, the e-commerce giant has finally thought it wise to shutter the scheme.
The What and Why
Amazon over the past few years has managed to accumulate opprobrium in proportion with the acceptance and acknowledgment inculcated for its services. One major reason for the harsh criticism was the rather poor working conditions at the warehouses. The criticism passed the threshold of what can be waded off by mere reassurances and empty promises that the company felt the need to act on it. The only problem was that they took the wrong lane. Instead of actually addressing the issues, the company thought it wise to pay a few workers to kick start an influence campaign on Twitter to declare how great the working conditions are at the warehouses. Quite ironically the scheme which was supposed to wipe off the stain added to it. Well, if you need an example for the phrase, “adding fuel to the fire,” you have it right here.
As per certain internal documents shared by The Intercept last year, the scheme was launched back in 2018 following widespread criticism concerning the company’s safety standards and working conditions. Apparently, the warehouses which they call “fulfillment centers” weren’t as fulfilling as they sounded. To solve the problem, a set of workers with a “great sense of humor” were chosen to respond to the critics in a “polite-but blunt- way.” (Next time you apply to Amazon, don’t forget to add “great sense of humor” to your resume).
Despite its best efforts, the Twitter army failed to clean up the mess and instead added to the mess inviting additional mockery and criticism. Although it was hard to discern the exact identity of these “ambassadors” it was pretty easy to recognize them, thanks to the “Amazon FC Ambassador” added to the end of their names. Also, the fact that these accounts used the same pictures and language style in addition to swapping the ownership of the accounts didn’t help their case. Thankfully, the realization has struck the company, and they have decided to put an end to this sham.