In my 8 ways to deal with trolls and negative criticism, (1000+ retweets!) one of the options is to “own” the negative criticism – or troll the trolls. Because it’s not negative if you own it, and get a laugh out of it, is it? If someone calls you (in a derogatory tone) a geek, a poof, a workaholic, a slacker, a pushy woman, a pushover bloke, a… well just buy a badge, a t-shirt or make a poster. By the way, not all negative criticism is trolling though it can feel like it at the time.  Click the images for the original site.

Brand Troll – Posters

For Example, you could make a poster of your customers comments and reviews.

Brand Troll – Chalkboards

and general trolling of passerbys

Brand Troll – T-shirts

“Delfina is taking back the night, so to speak. Instead of simply bitching about Yelp, they’ve made Yelp their bitch and taken quotes from one-star reviews posted on Yelp about the pizzeria and made them into T-shirts for their staff to wear. (They also have one that simply says, “This place sucks,” a quote from yet another typically eloquent and insightful Yelp review.) The Yelp mentality? I have my thoughts on it. But let the t-shirt speak for itself.”

Brand Troll – Cups

Instapaper thought their reviews were funny. They are, unless you are really really frustrated with developers

How else can you merchandise a negative criticism or trolling comment (no, they ain’t the same thing)? A car? A number plate? Toilet rolls? The mind boggles.

Thanks to Robyn Lewis for asking the question

EDIT: And then there’s Brands that allow Trolls in, to make rather funny videos at their expense