It is no secret that Twitter can be a very valuable marketing tool. However, what happens when Twitter works to your disadvantage? There are many perils of tweeting and hashtags that all companies should be leery of.
Here are two examples of companies that landed in some serious Twitter trouble after posting seemingly innocent tweets.
Entenmanns’ “not guilty” tweet
Entenmanns has been providing tasty treats since 1898. Recently, its social media efforts included searching Twitter for trending hashtags to use in a company tweet. A few weeks ago, the hashtag #notguilty was the world’s top trending topic so the company decided to use it in a tweet. The post read:
What Entenmanns didn’t understand before tweeting was that the #notguilty hashtag was trending because of the controversial Casey Anthony “not guilty” trial verdict. The public, already outraged by the perceived injustice of the verdict, assumed the company was making a joke about the situation and was quick to attack. Entenmanns quickly deleted the post and apologized via Twitter, admitting its failure to fully research the hashtag before using it.
Microsoft and Amy Winehouse
When Amy Winehouse passed, the public was devastated to lose such a young and talented artist. Her music video for “
Back to Black” has been viewed by many as a symbolic remembrance of the late artist. Microsoft, supplier of the portable media player named Zune, tweeted about Winehouse through its U.K. PR Twitter account @tweetbox360 three days after her passing. The post read:
Microsoft was not expecting the public backlash it received. Many saw the company as trying to cash in on Winehouse’s untimely death, calling Microsoft “insensitive” and using the hashtag #vultures to describe the post. Microsoft apologized with a post regarding the company’s remorse for the loss of such a great talent.
When it comes to Twitter, or any social media outlet, you have to be smart about what you post. An extra five minutes of research to understand the conversation surrounding a particular subject or hashtag can be the difference between a clever post and a PR nightmare. Twitter is not brain surgery, yet you can easily kill a company by making a careless mistake.