The brand behind the curtain: decoupling, recoupling and moral conflict in social media

Purpose – Social media platforms have matured into significant arenas for moral conflict and often intense confrontation between brands and their consumers. This research aims to scrutinize the strategic development of a fresh brand entity deliberately detached from its morally compromised corporate parent, intended to reshape public perceptions and elude regulatory scrutiny. Design/methodology/approach – Promoted as a center for transformative dialogue and innovation, Mission Winnow by Philip Morris is a novel example of a brand creating an entirely separate brand entity to provide sponsorship, and to associate itself with new brand values. This study employs a multisited netnography through which the posts and conversations on Mission Winnow’s platform and website hub are captured and interpreted, as well as the branded content and the free flows of consumers’ conversations generated around the brand on social media. Findings – Findings reveal a broad interchange of moral controversy, acceptance and opposition discourses on social media. When consumers’ acceptance narratives gain traction, consumers extend their support toward the new brand entity, employing strategies that echo moral rationalization and decoupling. When resistance narratives dominate, consumers consciously draw connections between the decoupled brand and the parent brand’s immoral behavior. Originality/value – This study expands upon prior research into brand activism and consumers’ moral reasoning toward controversial brands, linking the notion of brand decoupling to brand activism discourse and introducing key underexplored aspects like the power of imagery, linguistic creativity and nostalgia. Moreover, it presents significant implications for a more nuanced understanding of the important interrelationship of brand decoupling and recoupling on social media.