WE ALL PUT things on social media that we regret, but we’re all not multinational brands or celebrities.
These hit hard…
1. Kenneth Cole’s hashtag hijack
The fashion designer tweeted this unlikely reason for the violent protests in Cairo in 2011.
What’s worse, is that the tweet was signed – KC, implying it was from the man himself. He later apologised, but the damage was done.
Oh.
2. Susan Boyle’s questionable album party
Whoever started the hashtag for Susan Boyle needs to employ a proofreader. What was supposed to be an inoffensive promotional Twitter hashtag disintegrated into pure smut thanks to the unfortunate combination of #susanalbumparty.
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3. DiGiorno Pizza and WhyIStayed
Let DiGiorno Pizza teach you another lesson in why it’s good to understand a hashtag before your brand attempts to hijack it. Twitter users were tweeting their stories of domestic abuse under the hashtag #WhyIStayed in response to a video of NFL Ray Rice assaulting his wife.
DiGiorno tweeted this:
They quickly backtracked, and in fairness to them, replied to everyone personally with apologies.
4. Best Buy seriously bad Serial fail
American chain store Best Buy was a major plot point in the phenomenally popular Serial podcast, which re-examined the murder trial of Adnan Syed who was jailed for murdering his ex girlfriend in 1999. A Best Buy payphone was a crucial part of the plot, whether or not there was a payphone outside a Baltimore branch.
The backlash was imminent, but they quickly apologised.
5. This Minnesota shop’s dubious promotional offer
This one proves that you’re definitely not safe on Facebook either. The Global Village Duluth offered 25 percent off everything black in honour of Martin Luther King day. Place your face firmly in palms. Judging by the replies, not many people took them up on the offer.
6. WTF British Embassy
Why. Who. When. No.
Again, they apologised. Ah, good intentions…
7. Formula 1 racer fighting for his life… give DHL those clicks
The courier service used the near-fatal crash of Formula 1 racer Jules Bianchi (who has remained in a coma ever since) in Japan to get some likes on their Facebook post, writing:
By clicking ‘Like’ on this occasion, you’ll be sending Jules your best wishes for a speedy recovery. #ForzaJules
And… it didn’t go down too well.
8. CelebBoutique
Now the House of CB, the online clothes store tweeted this after #Aurora trended after the Dark Night Rises cinema shooting in Aurora, Colorando.
They didn’t take the time to read the reason it was trending, and tweeted this.
They later apologised, saying the PR company who run their account isn’t US based and didn’t check the reason for the trend.
