Trumpeter Media uses affiliate marketing. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to this product and affiliated sites. Other affiliate links may be used in this article, but they do not impact on the price that you pay (in fact you get to use my discounts!) and they help me to get this information to you for free.
Social Media can bring massive benefits to your online and company reputation. However, it can also make your business look ridiculous in the space of hours, even minutes or seconds! Here are 5 of the dumbest social media blunders ever.
@KennethCole jumping in on #Cairo
In 2011, fashion designer Kenneth Cole made the mistake of inappropriately hijacking a trend on Twitter. In the wake of political unrest in Egypt’s capital, including deaths and violence, @KennethCole Tweeted ‘Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo -KC’ No surprise there, that millions were severely offended and put off the fashion label.
Delta’s Ghanaian Giraffes!
To congratulate the US team for scoring a goal over Ghana, Delta tweeted two images – one to represent each country. A Statue of Liberty represented the US and a giraffe to represent Ghana. The only problem was that Giraffes are not native to Ghana, they are from Kenya, on the East African coast! See the Huffington Post for the full story.
Justin Bieber Visiting the Wrong Shrine
In 2014, Justin Beiber visited a shrine, had his photograph taken there, and tweeted it with the words ‘Thank you for your blessings’. However, he had not realised that he had visited a controversial shrine at the centre of Asian and international politics – a shrine that supposedly honours Japanese who were responsible for the death of thousands of Chinese during WW2.
@US Airways Tweeting an Obscene Picture
US Airways responded to a customer complaint, by mistakenly attaching an obscene picture attached! Apparently, it was tweeted to the airline company earlier that day, and they copied the link to report it. How unfortunate that it then appeared in their Twitter feed in a response to an already disgruntled customer! Read this story in full on Buzzfeed.
LG Making fun of an iPhone with an iPhone!
LG used the hashtag #bendgate to make fun of the bendy iPhone 6 and promote its own Bendy G Flex. However, get this, it was tweeted from the French LG account actually using an iPhone! See the Tweet here.
What can we learn from these dumbest Social Media Blunders?
Make sure that you get tweets and campaigns double checked for appropriateness and factual correctness. Don’t jump in on hashtags, especially when you don’t know the meaning of the campaign. Check your tweet or post for any spam or incorrect links/attachments. Also, remember that you device may give away where or what it is tweeting from!
Indeed, all of these people or companies made public apologies and attempted to put their blunders right! But the rule is think before you tweet!
One thought on “5 of the Dumbest Social Media Blunders Ever”