After days of controversy, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has said it will continue funding for Planned Parenthood. The foundation cut off funding of breast cancer screening by Planned Parenthood on Tuesday this week, then today apologized and reversed the decision after facing intense backlash. Critics charged that the move was solely political. We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Susan G. Komen buzz

Susan G. Komen mentions increased more than 400% this week.

Susan G. Komen sentiment

Conversations around Susan G. Komen were averaging nearly 90% positive for the first three weeks in January. Currently conversations are 67% negative.

Susan G. Komen conversation topics

Planned Parenthood is currently appearing in more than 50% of Susan G. Komen conversations online. Nearly every major topic of conversation around Susan G. Komen is negative.

Ogilvy ad agency is working with Susan G. Komen to help with the PR crisis. Is the situation beyond repair?

Pfizer is recalling 1 million packets of birth control pills after uncovering a packaging error that could leave women with an inadequate dose of the hormone-based drugs and raise the risk that they will get pregnant accidentally.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Pfizer online.

Pfizer buzz

Pfizer mentions increased 633% online February 1 following the recall announcement.

Pfizer conversation sentiment

Conversations around Pfizer went from went from 83% positive January 27 to 85% negative February 1.

Pfizer conversation topic cloud

Currently 79% of Pfizer conversations are negative (red). Nearly every topic of conversation mentions the birth control recall.

Will customers that rely on Pfizer pills to plan their lives be switching to another brand?

Did former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney stake his claim as the frontrunner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination with a win Tuesday in Florida’s Republican primary?

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Republican candidates Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Republican candidate buzz January 2012

While Santorum, Romney and Gingrich each generated the most buzz at different points in January, Romney currently leads the race by a wide margin.

Republican candidate buzz August 2011 – present

When we expand the data analysis to the last six months, we see that Romney outlasted surges by Santorum and Gingrich to remain the frontrunner.

Conversations around Romney are an average of 50% positive, followed by Santorum at 48%, Paul at 47% and Gingrich at 44% positive.

Los Angeles Clippers’ star Blake Griffin threw down what many are calling the dunk of the year in last night’s NBA game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Social media sites and blogs exploded with chatter last night and today. We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Blake Griffin buzz

Blake Griffin mentions online reached their highest point since February 2011, when Griffen won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest by jumping over a Kia.

Blake Griffin vs. Kobe vs. LeBron

We measured conversation around Griffin compared to the NBA’s two biggest stars: LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Griffin is generating more conversations online than both today.

At least for today, Blake Griffin is the most popular player in the NBA.

The 2012 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards had few surprises Sunday night. “The Help” took home several awards. Here’s the full list of awards.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

SAG Awards vs. Golden Globes

The SAG Awards, which are often used to predict winners of Academy Awards, generated only around 1/4 as much buzz as the Golden Globes earlier this month.

SAG Awards sentiment

Conversations around the 2012 SAG Awards were 88% positive. Glee was the most mentioned topic — although the TV show did not win an award, its star Lea Michelle made headlines for stealing the show on the red carpet.

 

Taco Bell is debuting “first meal” offerings to compete for the morning on-the-go crowd. Breakfast has become the most important meal of the day for restaurants, accounting for virtually all of the industry’s growth in the past five years.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Taco Bell online.

Taco Bell buzz

Taco Bell mentions are at their highest point in the last six months.

Breakfast mentions within Taco Bell conversations

Breakfast is currently being mentioned in nearly 15% of all Taco Bell conversations.

Will you be trying Taco Bell’s new breakfast offerings?

After many years at No. 1, American Idol could finally get overthrown in the weekly ratings as the country’s highest-rated TV series.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

American Idol buzz

American Idol mentions have been steadily declining for the last several years.

American Idol sentiment

 

Chatter around American Idol is at its most negative point. The chart contains data from 2008-present.

Is American Idol’s run as the highest rated show on TV over?

Apple has posted impressive quarterly earnings for the 14-week period ending on December 31, 2011. According to a press release, the company reported a quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion, as well as a quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share, the company’s best quarterly results yet. Apple’s 116 percent profit growth helped push its total cash to $97.6 billion — enough to cover Greece’s debt payments due in the next two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads and 5.3 million Macs during the quarter.

What’s interesting is the continued growth of iPad sales.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around iPad, iPod and iPhone online.

iPhone vs. iPod vs. iPad buzz

iPad mentions topped iPhone mentions for the first time in December 2011.

Apple buzz

Overall Apple mentions have been in slight decline since 2008. Although Apple passed Exxon as the most valuable company based on market cap.

President Obama delivered his third State of the Union address Tuesday night. ”The state of our union is getting stronger,” Obama said, thanks to the economy showing signs of improvement, declining unemployment, rising consumer confidence and reduced levels of household debt.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

SOTU mentions

The State of the Union (SOTU) was mentioned in nearly 2% of all Internet conversations Tuesday night.

Content distribution

Approximately 85% of Tuesday night’s SOTU conversations came via Twitter; 11% via blogs. ‘Economy’ appears in 20% of conversations and ‘jobs’ appears in 19%.

On January 18, McDonald’s launched the Twitter promotion #McDStories with the following tweets from the @McDonalds account:

“When u make something w/pride, people can taste it,” – McD potato supplier #McDStories http://t.co/HaPM5G9F

Meet some of the hard-working people dedicated to providing McDs with quality food every day #McDStories http://t.co/BoNIwRJS

From there, the #McDStories hashtag was born, but probably not in the way McDonald’s was hoping. Negative tweets about the fast food giant began to surface, ranging from crude to funny to devastating zings.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

#McDStories conversation topic cloud

Since the #McDStories campaign began, 78% of mentions have been negative.

Content distribution

An average of 86% of #McDStories mentions came via males.

McDonald’s sentiment

Overall conversations around McDonald’s are currently 52% positive.

Marketers are constantly told to engage with their customers via social media. But is this a case where a traditional print ad might have generated more positive buzz?