Pears soap: was it really Facebook that won it?

According to the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, consumer power has chalked up another victory thanks to the power of Facebook:

• Facebook campaign forces Pears soap makers to abandon ‘disgusting’ new recipe – Daily Mail
• Pears Traditional Soap abandons new recipe after Facebook campaign – Daily Telegraph

The Telegraph is a little more circumspect than the Mail with its use of “after” rather than “forces”, which doesn’t suggest quite the same degree of direct causality. But there’s no doubt what general impression the reader is meant to take from the story.

However, take a look at the group on Facebook and it has only 31 members. A case of 31 very powerful members? Or a case of Facebook not being the cause of the change after all? Pears themselves have said they received many complaints, suggesting it was not Facebook but more traditional direct complaints to the company that brought about the change.

Facebook is powerful, but it’s not all powerful.