It's a tragic day, as one of the most gifted musicians of the modern era has passed.
Despite his moniker, Prince, who died Thursday at 57, was a king among men and will live on only through memory and the hours of powerful and provocative music he left behind.
Brands, as they usually do, tried to join the conversation about Prince online with mostly-purple-clad homages. That's challenging in the best of times—and doubly hard when the conversation is mostly one giant outpouring of grief.
Not every brand managed it well. As of this writing, at least two brands have had second thoughts about their posts and deleted them outright. Many others remain up, though some are clearly in questionable taste—mostly because they feel overly self-promotional.
The image atop this post was tweeted, then deleted, by Cheerios. The caption read simply, #prince. Below, you can see a tweet from Hamburger Helper that was also deleted. Both suffered from too much brand presence. The Cheerios post feels like an ad, and the Hamburger Helper post flippantly, and stupidly, threw the brand mascot into the caption.
As of this writing, the Maker's Mark tweet below remains up. It's actually quite a beautiful image, and while it's promotional, the whiskey brand has done purple wax dips before—so it feels less like a pure grab for attention.
— Maker's Mark (@MakersMark) April 21, 2016
@Msmuffin816 we've done purple dips before but don't have any in market currently. Just wanted to bring it back as tribute. Keep an eye out!
— Maker's Mark (@MakersMark) April 21, 2016
This tweet from Getty Images is a straight-up ad. It links to Prince photos available for purchase on the site. As helpful as that might be for news sites today, it's inappropriate.
Often imitated, never duplicated. #Princehttps://t.co/07gxbfFGvVpic.twitter.com/eNSiqnZ26S
— Getty Images (@GettyImages) April 21, 2016
Below are a handful of tweets that are decent and heartfelt—a number of them, naturally, from brands based in Minnesota. In other words, they honored the man while keeping the self-promotion and corporate branding to a minimum.
Bing:
There will never be another like you, Prince. Thank you for the music. pic.twitter.com/blhX9kx1HH
— Bing (@bing) April 21, 2016
TiVo:
We are saddened today at the news of Prince's passing. His music meant so much to so many. pic.twitter.com/qMpnSO5zIq
— TiVo (@TiVo) April 21, 2016
Best Buy:
Prince was a true original and a Minnesota icon. We will miss him dearly.
— Best Buy (@BestBuy) April 21, 2016
Caribou Coffee:
#RestInPurple#MNLove#Princepic.twitter.com/hhJ0S6GxqG
— Caribou Coffee (@Caribou_Coffee) April 21, 2016
Minnesota Twins:
Fitting that it's raining in Minneapolis today. pic.twitter.com/s5KFurDhHi
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 21, 2016
Minnesota Vikings:
We've lost a legend way too soon. #RIPPrincepic.twitter.com/m1NLeLDDwG
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) April 21, 2016
And finally, here is 3M, which is a good example of where things go wrong. By all means, pay tribute to the man. Just don't make it all about your brand.
— 3M (@3M) April 21, 2016
