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?

Sony has locked down 93,000 user accounts across the Sony Entertainment, PlayStation and Sony Online Entertainment networks in response to an attempted hacker attack. Hackers attempted to log in to a “massive” number of accounts with user ID and password combinations obtained from an unknown third-party source. The last major attack on the network, in which the account information of 77 million users was compromised, brought down the entire PlayStation Network for several weeks last spring and cost an estimated $170 million.

In other bad news for the company, Sony also recalled 1.6 million Bravia flat-panel TVs sold worldwide since 2007 because a faulty component may cause them to melt or catch fire.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around both topics related to Sony online.

Sony buzz

Buzz around Sony more than doubled this week.

Sony conversation topic cloud

Nearly every current topic of conversation around Sony is related to either the PlayStation Network hacker attack or the Bravia TV recall.

Will Microsoft XBox use social media to engage with frustrated PlayStation users to steal market share?

Kraft Foods Inc. is recalling three varieties of its Velveeta Shells & Cheese single-serve microwaveable cups because small, thin wire bristle pieces may be inside the cups. The recall includes 137,000 cases of the affected products shipped to customers across the U.S.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Kraft conversation topic cloud

Dangerous is not a word you want to see appearing in a lot of your product conversations. The word ‘dangerous’ is appearing in 5% of all Kraft conversations online and is 100% negative.

The good news for Kraft is that Kraft’s new iPhone and iPad app featuring a Jell-O cube dancing to music is generating more buzz online. And buzz around the dancing Jell-O app is 100% positive.

Velveeta conversation topic cloud

The recall is a more prominent topic within Velveeta conversations, appearing in 22% of all Velveeta mentions. There have been no reports of consumer injuries or complaint.

Subaru made its third safety recall of the month today, recalling 70,000 Outback and Legacy models from 2011 because the glass portion of the moonroof might fly off. The two earlier recalls covered almost 500,000 vehicles.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Subaru online.

Subaru sentiment

Negative sentiment increased 31% this week following the latest recall.

How will the negative buzz impact Subaru?

Toyota agreed today to recall an additional 2.17 million U.S. vehicles due to to floor-mat problems that could interfere with the accelerator pedal. The recall expands on already-known issues by adding new models and new causes to pedal interference.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Toyota.

Toyota conversation sentiment

Conversations around Toyota have been trending negative all day. Currently 70% of Toyota conversations are negative.

Toyota conversation topic cloud

Almost every major topic of conversation is red (negative). The word ‘recall’ is currently being mentioned in 55% of Toyota conversations online.

General Motors sentiment

On the other hand, two years after filing for bankruptcy protection, General Motors (GM) posted 2010 results that were its strongest annual performance in more than a decade and forecast further growth this year. GM earned $4.7 billion for the year, its first profit since 2004 and its best performance since 1999. GM chatter is currently 71% positive.

GM and Toyota are currently generating a similar amount of conversations overall. Will positive conversations around GM and negative conversations around Toyota reflect the sales numbers in the months ahead?

Honda Motor Co is the latest automobile company facing negative buzz after a major product recall. Honda announced on Monday it was recalling more than 428,000 vehicles because of a defect that could cause the cars to roll away if they are parked incorrectly. The recall includes primarily Accord, Civic, Element models.

The sentiment chart below shows Honda cruising along at above 80% positive Internet chatter sentiment in the month leading up to the recall. Negative chatter immediately spiked above positive chatter after the recall news broke.

Positive chatter seems to be on the rise and negative chatter seems to be on the decline today, though. And looking at an overall buzz trend chart below, there was not an increase in overall chatter due to the recall. In fact, overall Honda chatter spiked in mid July.

Upon further investigation using Social Radar, we clicked on the peak point to get more information.

A quick look at the topic cloud for Honda during the peak in chatter reveals the terms ‘plug-in hybrid’ and ’2012′ were used most frequently.

Analysis on the term ‘plug-in hybrid’ shows that the term was used in 9% of all Honda-related posts that day, and mentioned an average of 2.2 times per post — with 97% of the mentions being positive. Related topics include ‘electric car’ and ‘Ito’.

Further analysis shows us the top influential sources that created these posts:

As well as a full list of posts:

We quickly found a post on the popular blog Engadget regarding Honda CEO Takanobu Ito’s formal announcement of plans to produce a plug-in hybrid competitor for Toyota’s flashy new PHEV Prius by 2012.

So the good news for Honda is that their announcement to produce the hybrid plug-ins generated more buzz overall than the recall.

For additional information or analysis, visit http://infegy.com/socialradar.

Toyota yesterday instructed 3.8 million vehicle owners to take the floor mats out of their cars, trucks and SUVs. This decision followed the deaths of four people in California in a recent crash involving a Lexus with a stuck accelerator pedal.

How did this announcement affect Toyota’s brand? We used Social Radar to research Toyota chatter.

First, we decided to pull a chart of positive, negative and conflicting Toyota chatter over September 29 and 30, just after the announcement.

Let’s also take a look at the context of Toyota’s chatter over September 29 and 30.

The data clearly shows that a large majority of this content is related to the floor mat recall. And, it’s almost entirely negative (as shown by the many topics highlighted in red). Additionally, most of the Toyota chatter was categorized by quality related mentions, which were highly negative.

We then decided to look at the positive and negative conversation trend (the green and red lines) correlating with conversation volume (the bars).

Toyota chatter was quite positive leading up to the announcement. Interestingly, Toyota chatter surged in negativity on September 30 but quickly shifted back to positive the very next day. This strong turnaround shows that people may be quickly forgiving Toyota and moving past this unforeseen mistake.