What to Do When Reddit Turns on Your Brand

Last month, MAC Cosmetics announced their debut on Reddit in the most Reddit way possible: by sharing screenshots of scathing posts made about the brand over the years.

In a gallery captioned “…can we say something?” the company memorialised anonymous commenters (known as Redditors) who had at some point wondered “Has MAC Cosmetics fallen off?” and proclaimed “I’ve been betrayed by MAC.” The brand concluded with a screenshot of its first Reddit post, which asked users which products it should bring back.

The self-effacing campaign worked as intended: Redditors left over 940 comments, the vast majority celebrating much-missed products like “Spanish Fly” lipstick and “Haute & Naughty” lash mascara.

The cheeky post also reflected an often brutal reality: Brands have virtually no control over what is said about them on Reddit, even in forums — known as subreddits — dedicated entirely to them. While subreddits are usually started by fans of a brand, they can quickly devolve into negative feedback loops, a safe space for Redditors to vent about everything from poor customer service to shoddy products to more esoteric complaints, like how well a two-centimeter logo was stitched onto a pair of Corteiz Nike Air Max 95s.

It’s a problem that’s gone from a minor nuisance to a major headache as Reddit’s popularity has surged. Just over one-quarter of Americans report having ever used Reddit, more than Snapchat and within shouting distance of TikTok’s 37 percent, according to a Pew Research Center survey from last year. Reddit logged 415 million views to fashion and style subreddits in the past year; among the most popular in the category are dedicated forums for discussing brands ranging from Shein and Aritzia to Arc’teryx and Louis Vuitton.

Many of those views are coming from Google, where Reddit posts pop up frequently near the top of search results (they’ve also been a key source of data for ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence platforms). Googling virtually any brand’s name and the word “Reddit” will return link after link, yielding honest feedback about specific products, fan appreciation posts and the occasional unhinged rant.

“Anything online review related, you see a lot more negative than positive feedback, just because people want to feel heard,” said Cole Townsend, a Substack writer who also serves as moderator for several popular subreddits within the running fashion space. “They’re not here to hate, but are there because they’re fans and want to be a part of that conversation.”

Long story short: What Redditors say about a brand matters. And while brands may not be able to fully control the image created by millions of mostly anonymous commenters, how they engage — or don’t — can steer overall sentiment.

“If you’re going to be a part of that conversation, it has to be because you are somehow paying attention to it, acknowledging it, doing something about it,” said Lore Oxford, Reddit’s head of insights product.

Why Brands Should Listen Before Engaging

Townsend suggests that brands, at the very least, should pay attention and consider feedback shared on Reddit internally, which can be easily done by businesses with Reddit Pro accounts that let them track keywords and conversations about their brand. But when it comes to directly posting or participating in a Reddit community, tread carefully.

“People aren’t super welcoming towards brands. They want it to be about the users as opposed to brands taking over and commercialising it,” he added.

The biggest mistake is to directly push back against criticism. The focus should instead be on listening, and only engage when true customer support is possible, said Lauren Walter, a senior content director for the digital marketing agency Online Optimism.

“If this brand is coming in there and actually trying to help people, answer questions, and go the extra mile wherever they can, it really helps to create that more positive impression,” she said.

Recently, for instance, many Redditors on a fan-created subreddit dedicated to Bandit Running began voicing frustrations about shipping delays for the brand’s winter collection. Bandit didn’t respond directly on Reddit; instead, it sent out an end-of-year survey to customers that included an AMA-style chat shared through its own email newsletter. Sure enough, Redditors shared their responses in the Bandit subreddit, helping to mitigate frustration with the shipping delays, Townsend said.

Brands don’t need to wait for complaints to pour in before interacting with Redditors. Even then, service, rather than self-promotion, is the rule.

For instance, sportswear brands like Adidas, Brooks and Puma have embraced “ask me anything” (or AMA) threads in subreddits like r/RunningShoeGeeks, which Townsend also helps moderate, that allow Redditors to freely throw questions to brand employees. Walter says AMAs don’t only humanise brands but also reward engaged Redditors with what feels like exclusive access.

Adidas recently let product designers acknowledge critical feedback about shoelaces while also sharing behind-the-scenes concept art for its AE2 basketball sneaker within these AMAs.

Embracing Negative Feedback

Townsend said that the foundation of healthy Reddit communities comes from organic and real engagement that brands aren’t controlling. That’s why many brand-dedicated subreddits aren’t operated by brands like Discords or Instagram Channels. And that real negative brand feedback that pops-up on Reddit is vital to keeping the same communities that also praise them alive.

“I’ve had brands mostly reach out saying they want to get more involved in the community. I’ve never had someone say: ‘Hey, can you take this down?’, said Townsend. “As moderators, we’re not doing personal favours for people because it’s about doing what’s right by the community.”

Oxford said that as Reddit becomes a go-to destination for consumers to research products, brands should remember negativity is usually coming from a place of constructive feedback rather than pure hate or internet trolling.

“Reddit is considered real because it doesn’t have overwhelmingly or exclusively positive spaces,” said Oxford.

That’s small consolation when those constructive comments are the first link served up in a Google search. But brands must resist the urge to try to skew their image on the platform, experts agree.

Walter said that while it is technically possible for brands to make fake Reddit accounts to uplift positive commentary, it’s not a viable strategy in the long-term — especially due to how discerning Redditors are.

“As soon as that gets discovered, your account is going to get banned on the subreddit, you’re going to lose all of that progress, and waste money when you could have been spending more time and effort genuinely interacting with the community,” said Walter.