Popular Belfast nightclub Rain has experienced a newspaper article spark a viral hate campaign against the establishment on Facebook.  The club was reported to have refused access to a disabled man in a wheelchair on Tuesday 19 October, according to regional newspaper The Irish News.

Within three days of the printed article support for the disabled man and detractors of the nightclub have gathered over 11,000 ‘Likes’ on the Facebook page “Boycott RAIN Nightclub”. (Since the time of publication, this page has been removed.)

So what could the nightclub do now to diffuse the situation and potentially reposition itself as a caring establishment, welcoming for all clientele?

Assuming that the report in The Irish News is accurate, they should:

1. Make a clear and unambiguous statement on the Boycott RAIN Nightclub Facebook page admitting the incident and showing humility and sorrow
2. If the incident did happen show that disciplinary procedures have been brought against the accused members of staff and illustrate that procedures have been put in place to prevent any incident of this nature happening again.
3. Make every effort to contact the gentleman in question and ask him back to the nightclub so it can make amends
4. Run a Google AdWords campaign for the key search terms of the incident directing the reader to a landing page on the Rain Nightclub website.
5. Create an open apology letter on the Rain Nightclub website as this is likely to be the key task of the majority of visitors to the site for the forthcoming week.
6. Have the letter linked from a prominent area of the home page
7. Make a statement on the Rain Nightclub Facebook page.

A more interesting debate is what should happen if the nightclub refutes the allegations.  When asking the opinions around our office opinion was divided.  Many felt that the club should state its position, promoting its side of the story.  Others felt it was too late for defending and the quickest way to diffuse the viral campaign was to follow steps 1 to 7 with the exclusion of point 2.

By leaning into the conversations that are happening, Rain stands a chance of regaining credibility.  By avoiding the topic, their reputation could be crushed.