Social Media Helps Mobilize Against Eagles' Sponsors

Deafening silence. That's the response thus far from Eagles sponsors to the Michael Vick signing last Thursday. Unfortunately for them, however, protesters, particularly of the online nature, are making plenty of noise. Here's a smattering of what we're seeing.

There's SackVick.Net which has a list of sponsor emails and training camp protests planned for the next few weeks.

There's also another site that provides all of the Eagles sponsor's names and twitter accounts asking fans to "simply let them know, politely but firmly, that you cannot use their products/services while they provide financial backing for the Eagles."

Whereas before when sponsors got flack it generally came in the form of emails, small pockets of protests, a petition or two and perhaps some missed individual sales. 1-to-1 communication for the most part. With the advent of social media, we're seeing protesters with the ability to air their dissent directly to sponsors and displayed to hundreds and thousands of followers instantaneously. The silent treatment in response, might mean one unhappy customer, silence in this instance may reverberate to hundreds of thousands of cumulative people. In short, it has never been easier to mobilize against a sponsor.

So how much did Eagles sponsors know in advance of the announcement, if anything? Did they have time to prepare a reaction and what do you expect their next step will be?