Viral TikTok User Fired From Sherwin-Williams For Paint-Mixing Videos

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Ohio University senior, Anthony “Tony” Piloseno is the man behind an immensely popular paint-mixing TikTok page, which costs him his part-time job at Sherwin-Williams. Piloseno aimed to use the data collected from his viral TikTok videos to pitch to Sherwin-Williams in a digital marketing campaign that would surely appeal to a younger demographic of Gen-Z’ers and millennials alike.

Tony Piloseno is finishing up his senior year at Ohio University while working at a local Sherwin-Williams store. The company discovered his successful paint-mixing TikTok channel @tonesterpaints that is home to over 1.2 million followers. According to an article from Buzzfeed News, Piloseno said that for months he’d been spotflighting his viral account as an example of what Sherwin-Williams could do on social media by marketing its brand to a younger audience.

Unfortunately, Tony’s plan led to a corporate investigation of his social media account where they ultimately fired him after determining he was making “these videos during [his] working hours” while using company equipment.

According to termination papers Piloseno provided to BuzzFeed News, the company reprimanded him for “gross misconduct,” which included the offenses of “wasting properties [and] facilities,” and “seriously embarrass[ing] the Company or its products.”

Soon after the story was published to BuzzFeed, the company spokesperson said that its’ decision to fire Piloseno was due to a “customer complaint” about Pilsoneo’s TikToks.

Piloseno admits to filming his earlier TikTok videos while already mixing paints for customers when he initially started his channel in December 2019. However, as his page continued to grow, he committed himself to purchasing cans of paint using his employee discount.,

“They first accused me of stealing — I told them I purchased all my paint,” he told BuzzFeed News.

Piloseno says he had been working at the Sherwin-Williams store in Athens, Ohio, for three years as a senior sales associate when he began recording and posting his paint mixing to the account, @tonesterpaints. He mentions the videos were received very well and quickly reached viral numbers on the platform. There aren’t many users creating videos about the process of mixing paints, so Tony’s account was niche enough to draw people in. By the sixth video, Piloseno garnered over a million views.

The senior college student became passionate about paint and mixing colors when he began working at the store.

“I loved the job immediately,” he said to BuzzFeed News. “I love how colors blend together, what goes with what… It’s hard to explain, but I really enjoy mixing paint. I like showing what stuff it can do.”

Last spring, Piloseno began assessing his TikTok account to use as a marketing opportunity for the company. He created the pitch deck showing Sherwin-Williams how it could leverage the TikTok platform to appeal to a younger consumer base. Piloseno hoped to develop brand awareness for the company through social media.

He first presented the pitch to his manager and a sales representative at the store who loved it. Piloseno was given a contact in the marketing department of the company’s headquarters. After several attempts of contacting the marketing contact, he was ultimately denied an opportunity to present his idea.

The company was put on high alert after receiving several calls about experimental paint mixing using their products inspired by Piloseno’s TikTok videos. BuzzFeed News notes that the company received a high volume of inquires about mixing blueberries into their paint because of a very specific viral TikTok from Piloseno.

He was fired in late July. Piloseno was left bemused by the company’s actions without the proper chance to tell his side of the story.

The company told BuzzFeed News on Wednesday that a “customer’s concerns” is what launched its investigation, and what ultimately led to its decision to let him go “due to multiple company policy violations.”

According to BuzzFeed News, “While we don’t discuss the details of employee matters publicly, what I can tell you is that we were made aware of the TikTok videos produced by Anthony Piloseno through a customer complaint,” said Julie Young, the vice president of global corporate communications. “We take all complaints seriously and thoroughly investigated the customer’s concerns. Following the investigation, Mr. Piloseno was let go in July 2020 due to multiple Company policy violations.”

Piloseno has since shared what happened to him publicly to his millions of TikTok fans. He has since continued to film his trendy paint-mixing TikToks in a friend’s basement. Now, he purchases his paint supplies from Lowe’s.

Companies are missing the point of adjusting to the world of digital and social marketing. Like Piloseno attempted to pitch, taking advantage of social media platforms like TikTok has proven to grow brands and companies far beyond their direct consumer base.

The truth of the matter is that younger demographics rarely purchase products because they watched advertisements on television or because they’re loyal to the brand. Younger generations look to popular social media platforms to influence their spending.

Tony told BuzzFeed News, “I’m working on making a logo; I just bought a domain name to make my own website,” he said. “I’m hoping to sell my own merchandise and my own paint colors.”

If companies don’t consider the new digital age, brands will fade as new and innovative companies will emerge to the top. It appears to be Sherwin-Williams loss as they lost both a passionate employee and large viewership to the company.

buzzfeed news , digital marketing , Newsletter , ohio university , paint mixing , sherwin williams , Social Media , Student , tiktok , viral

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