Opportunities for bumps and bruises to brands abound in the wild wild west cyberculture of today's social media. Imposters and infringement can eat away at brand reputation and customer trust. Fortunately, brand stewards can take proactive steps to keep their brands and the reputation of those brands protected online. Following are a few cautionary tales of companies and brands caught up in social media challenges and a checklist of strategies you can use to help shield your company in cyberspace.

That Dirty Tide Pod Challenge. Procter & Gamble (P&G) recently found itself, and its Tide Pod laundry detergent brand, caught up in a viral social media craze known as the Tide Pod Challenge. The challenge involves participants filming themselves chowing down on brightly colored laundry detergent packs (despite the Tide Pod registered trademark headlining the challenge, any candy-colored laundry pod could be used). The spectacle most likely reached its zenith in January 2018 when poison control centers responded to 86 cases of teens intentionally ingesting detergent packs—that's about the same number of cases reported for all of 2016 and 2017 combined).

P&G's CEO David Taylor noted that even the most stringent of safety standards, labels and warnings “can't prevent intentional abuse fueled by poor judgment and the desire for popularity.” P&G urged social media platforms to remove Tide Pod Challenge videos and other posts popularizing the hazardous game, such as YouTube celebrity Logan Paul's tweet that he would eat one Tide Pod for every retweet of his original post (more on Logan Paul below). For its part, YouTube has pulled troubling videos, citing the platform's policy that prohibits content intended to encourage dangerous activities with an inherent risk of physical harm. Even Amazon.com is moderating Tide Pod product reviews, citing customer safety concerns after finding customer reviews commenting on the unique Tide Pod “taste.”

The Tide Pod Challenge has spawned a slurry of social media accounts and memes dedicated to the craze. Other companies have capitalized on P&G's dilemma by incorporating the Tide Pod Challenge into their own marketing, bringing us pizzas and doughnuts resembling Tide Pods as well as make-at-home recipes for edible versions of the now infamous laundry packs.

Nigerian Princes in the Bitcoin Era. In a new twist on an old trick, scammers impersonating tech CEOs like Elon Musk, and even President Donald Trump, have begun conning people out of cryptocurrencies such as etherium and bitcoin. The new crypto scam, which smells a lot like the Nigerian Prince emails of the early 2000's, works like this: Fake accounts imitating famous figures (ex., @Elonn_Musk, @Eilon_Musk, and @ElonMuski) piggyback off tweets from the real celebrity's account, promising a cryptocurrency payday if you'll make a small deposit to their designated crypto account (ex., get 5 bitcoin for only .05 bitcoin). Spoiler alert—the crypto-payout never happens. While many people know to avoid these kinds of hustles, the scam clearly has the power to bamboozle at least a few of us. So far, authorities estimate the most successful fake accounts may be stealing as much as $70,000 a day. And this setup may have longevity since its rather easy for anyone to create a social media account using anyone else's name, or at least a name that is confusingly similar.

Influencers and the Brands Who Love/Hate Them. As companies look to build brand awareness and connect with target markets, it has become increasingly common to link up with social media influencers who have the power to evangelize a brand's products and services to their exponentially growing group of followers. But what happens to a brand when its influencer's reputation takes a nosedive? Take, for example, the recent controversy surrounding 22-year old YouTube celebrity Logan Paul.

Paul, whose daily YouTube videos regularly gain upwards of 5 million views each, reportedly earned $12.5 million last year and has worked with some of the globe's biggest brands, including Nike, Walmart, Pepsi, Verizon and HBO. But Paul came under fire at the end of last year after posting a video to YouTube that showed a dead body in a Japanese “suicide forest.” YouTube suspended all advertising from Pauls' YouTube channels in early February, citing a pattern of behavior that was unsuitable for brands which included tasering a dead rat and encouraging participation in the Tide Pod Challenge.

Influencers and their unpredictable reputations put advertisers and their respective brands in a predicament. While companies don't want to be seen supporting offensive creators, influencers command the attention of billions of viewers. In the case of Logan Paul, his bizarre antics resulted in an increase of followers. His main channel now has over 17 million subscribers, up nearly 1.8 million since the start of 2018. Perhaps in response to demand, YouTube recently restored advertising to Paul's channels, provided he can keep his nose clean and comply with YouTube's community and advertiser-friendly guidelines.

Adding more fuel to Logan Paul's fire is a potential trademark infringement lawsuit to be brought by clothing brand Maverick Apparel which claims that Paul hijacked the brand's name for his “Maverick by Logan Paul” product line, costing the company millions in lost revenue and reputation. Paul has long branded himself as a “maverick” and opted to use that name for his eponymous clothing line. None too pleased, in a recent demand letter Maverick Apparel cited a significant decline in its sales, reputation and goodwill as a direct result of Paul's “repulsive, abhorrent, and mutton-headed conduct,” pointing a scathing finger directly at Paul: “In choosing to promulgate yourself and your maw-wallop across social media and champion yourself as an object of ridicule, hatred and contempt, you have simultaneously infected the good name of Maverick Apparel.” And that's what kids these days call getting “roasted!“

Social Media Strategy Checklist

After the fear and paranoia of a social media scandal has fully set in, companies can take heart in knowing that it is possible to side-step or, at least, lessen the sting of these unfathomable social media events. It all boils down to being aware, being prepared and being strategic.

Monitor Social Media. Paying attention to what is being said about your brand online can make it easier to sniff out brandjacking and other infringements before they pick up steam. There are a variety of tools that can help you monitor and analyze the conversations taking place about your company on social media in addition to the employment of good old fashioned human intelligence.

Register Your IP. The majority of prime-time social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram) have automated infringement reporting tools in place. Having proof of trademark and copyright registrations, while not necessarily a prerequisite for relief, can certainly help to streamline the process.

Create Verified Accounts. At present, anyone can create a social media account in someone else's name with little to no accountability, thus making it imperative to demonstrate to your followers that they are following you and not an imposter. Those tiny blue and white “verified account” checkmarks on a brand's or individual's social media profile not only help build trust with followers but can also give companies access to exclusive services available only to verified account holders, including streamlined take-down procedures for infringement and editing rights.

Have a Social Media Policy. As we recently saw from Hawaii's now infamous false missile alert, human error is a common threat to brands, organizations and even governments. Having a well devised social media policy that is thoroughly communicated and consistently followed can help companies avoid such gaffes. A strong social media policy includes guidelines for brand-messaging and content sharing (to ensure that your company is not itself inadvertently guilty of IP infringement), procedures in the event of a corporate crisis, as well as regular audits to ensure that your policy is still relevant and that access and publishing privileges are up to date.

Vet Marketing Partners. Brands would be wise to do their homework before partnering with social media influencers, especially those who already carry scandalous baggage or may be likely to. Just last year, Disney and a slew of other brands learned that lesson the hard way after partnering with PewDiePie, one of YouTube's most famous stars, whom it was later revealed had published anti-Semitic videos and Nazi-related images.

Be Strategic With Enforcement. While brands may feel justified going in guns-a-blazing when their IP has been abused on social media, it's generally wise to take a quick beat and think through the consequences of an intended enforcement strategy. The social media universe can be quick to skewer, and slow to forgive, overly zealous IP enforcers On the other hand, a gracious and well-thought out approach can achieve the desired results without alienating fans. Solutions may also lie beyond the enforcement of IP rights, as P&G discovered by appealing to YouTube's non-IP related policies when seeking removal of the Tide Pod Challenge videos.

Ultimately, the key takeaway for brands—both consumer and non-consumer facing—is that there is really no such thing as an unfathomable brand-related event. When it comes to social media and the antics of humans interacting in a virtual universe, the challenges facing brands online are never ending. However, rather than feeling powerlessly tossed about in cyberspace, be assured that social media is a battle for every brand, but it's a battle that brands can win!

Erin S. Hennessy is a partner and chair of the trademark and copyright department at Bracewell. Annie Allison and Salsabil Ahmed are associates at the firm.