I’m impressed with how Logan Paul has cleverly responded to and rebutted serious allegations that his drink Prime Hydration contains illegally high levels of chemicals from the plastic bottles (PFAs, or ‘forever chemicals.’)

He did it in a way that feels authentic and believable to his followers, with a lot of hard work done behind the scenes.

 

You may have read about the class action lawsuit in the US, or seen viral videos on TikTok from a medical malpractice lawyer not directly linked to the case, talking about it.

What Paul and his team have done so well here is rebut each claim in great detail on TikTok – where a lot of the buzz is happening and where he has a huge following – not in a press release, or a briefing to journalists, or a long Twitter thread,like one of Prime’s rivals might do.

It looks like a typical green screen/reaction TikTok, but it has clearly been carefully researched, produced (and legally checked) using facts and stats to support Paul’s defence, in a way that any detailed rebuttal would, but with characteristic Logan swagger.

He then shared the same video natively on Twitter, Instagram (where he has his biggest social following) – but interestingly, not on his massive YouTube channel.

And his punchy, authentic response even won him some new customers!

Yes, there are some outstanding questions over the amount of caffeine in his product, which is popular with children, despite the hype dying down a lot.

But as a response to allegations that could cause serious reputational damage to him and his company, it’s a smart move.

This doesn’t mean that your CEO should try to copy this exactly for your next crisis; it’s all about being true to your brand/company, knowing your audience and where they are online, tackling the rebuttal at the source, and being confident in what you’re saying.

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