This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/15/the-top-five-corporate-twitter-fails-us-airways
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| US Airways and the top five corporate Twitter fails | US Airways and the top five corporate Twitter fails |
| (4 months later) | |
| US Airways managed a doozy of a Twitter fail on Monday when it accidentally tweeted a pornographic image in a reply to a customer. | US Airways managed a doozy of a Twitter fail on Monday when it accidentally tweeted a pornographic image in a reply to a customer. |
| The American airline tweeted the explicit image to an unhappy customer by mistake – but it took the firm nearly an hour to remove the post. | The American airline tweeted the explicit image to an unhappy customer by mistake – but it took the firm nearly an hour to remove the post. |
| It's not the first time a corporate company has fallen foul of social media. Here are five of the biggest corporate Twitter fails: | It's not the first time a corporate company has fallen foul of social media. Here are five of the biggest corporate Twitter fails: |
| 1. #AskBG | 1. #AskBG |
| Top tip for British Gas here: it's perhaps unwise to ask Twitter what they think of the company the very same day they announced an energy price hike of 9.2%. Except in October, they did exactly that. | Top tip for British Gas here: it's perhaps unwise to ask Twitter what they think of the company the very same day they announced an energy price hike of 9.2%. Except in October, they did exactly that. |
| We are here with our Customer Service Director, Bert Pijls, answering your questions until 2pm #AskBG pic.twitter.com/csbaqTfWwu | We are here with our Customer Service Director, Bert Pijls, answering your questions until 2pm #AskBG pic.twitter.com/csbaqTfWwu |
| What started as an innocent Q&A with British Gas' customer service director Bert Pijls soon turned into a Twitter free-for-all. | What started as an innocent Q&A with British Gas' customer service director Bert Pijls soon turned into a Twitter free-for-all. |
| .@BritishGas do u like strawberries also will the souls of hypothermic pensioners play on your conscience for eternity ? #AskBG | .@BritishGas do u like strawberries also will the souls of hypothermic pensioners play on your conscience for eternity ? #AskBG |
| #AskBG Can you recommend a good energy supplier? | #AskBG Can you recommend a good energy supplier? |
| Hi Bert, which items of furniture do you, in your humble opinion, think people should burn first this winter? #AskBG | Hi Bert, which items of furniture do you, in your humble opinion, think people should burn first this winter? #AskBG |
| Following the Q&A, a spokesman said: "We always value interaction with our customers." | Following the Q&A, a spokesman said: "We always value interaction with our customers." |
| 2. Angry HMV employee tweets during firing | 2. Angry HMV employee tweets during firing |
| If you're about to fire someone, it might be a good idea to change your company's Twitter password. HMV learnt this the hard way after an angry employee used the company's official Twitter account to tweet about mass layoffs at the company. | If you're about to fire someone, it might be a good idea to change your company's Twitter password. HMV learnt this the hard way after an angry employee used the company's official Twitter account to tweet about mass layoffs at the company. |
| A woman named Poppy Rose Cleere, formerly the company's social media planner, later identified herself as the HMV employee behind the tweets. In a series of tweets, she said she felt someone had to speak and claimed senior employees "never seemed to grasp" the importance of social media. | A woman named Poppy Rose Cleere, formerly the company's social media planner, later identified herself as the HMV employee behind the tweets. In a series of tweets, she said she felt someone had to speak and claimed senior employees "never seemed to grasp" the importance of social media. |
| I would apologise for the #hmvXFactorFiring tweets but I felt like someone had to speak. As someone without a family to support/no mortgage | I would apologise for the #hmvXFactorFiring tweets but I felt like someone had to speak. As someone without a family to support/no mortgage |
| I felt that I was the safest person to do so. Not to mention, I wanted to show the power of Social Media to those who refused to be educated | I felt that I was the safest person to do so. Not to mention, I wanted to show the power of Social Media to those who refused to be educated |
| A pub in Oxfordshire found itself in a similar situation after it sacked its head chef. Jim Knight was fired as the head chef of The Plough after he asked for Christmas Day off – except the pub forgot that he had access to its official Twitter account. | A pub in Oxfordshire found itself in a similar situation after it sacked its head chef. Jim Knight was fired as the head chef of The Plough after he asked for Christmas Day off – except the pub forgot that he had access to its official Twitter account. |
| 3. MasterCard's #PricelessSurprises | 3. MasterCard's #PricelessSurprises |
| It was meant to be a great campaign for MasterCard, coinciding with the Brits. They'd lined up all sorts of stars for videos, pictures and tweets before and during the ceremony. | It was meant to be a great campaign for MasterCard, coinciding with the Brits. They'd lined up all sorts of stars for videos, pictures and tweets before and during the ceremony. |
| Except the PR company managed to wind up a journalist at a national newspaper by attempting to tell him what he should tweet in return for accreditation to cover the event. | Except the PR company managed to wind up a journalist at a national newspaper by attempting to tell him what he should tweet in return for accreditation to cover the event. |
| Please fellow journalists do not agree to the absurd conditions for covering @BRITAwards. I've even just been told what I should tweet. No. | Please fellow journalists do not agree to the absurd conditions for covering @BRITAwards. I've even just been told what I should tweet. No. |
| The demands sent by House PR included suggestions for tweets before, during and after the event, all with the hashtag #PricelessSurprises. | The demands sent by House PR included suggestions for tweets before, during and after the event, all with the hashtag #PricelessSurprises. |
| After the story broke on Press Gazette, the promoted hashtag was soon the home of much mirth and mocking from journalists and the public alike. | After the story broke on Press Gazette, the promoted hashtag was soon the home of much mirth and mocking from journalists and the public alike. |
| Good press coverage is hard to bribe. For everything else there's Mastercard. #PricelessSurprises | Good press coverage is hard to bribe. For everything else there's Mastercard. #PricelessSurprises |
| Sponsored trend from Mastercard is currently helping people to find this: http://t.co/E6gTRp7wMd #PricelessSurprises pic.twitter.com/itznLSB6hR | Sponsored trend from Mastercard is currently helping people to find this: http://t.co/E6gTRp7wMd #PricelessSurprises pic.twitter.com/itznLSB6hR |
| Bear in mind, you have to pay Twitter for a promoted tweet. Ouch. | Bear in mind, you have to pay Twitter for a promoted tweet. Ouch. |
| 4. Tesco "hits the hay" after the horsemeat scandal | 4. Tesco "hits the hay" after the horsemeat scandal |
| It wasn't exactly the best couple of days for Tesco's social media team after it was revealed the supermarket had sold burgers containing horsemeat. It got a little bit worse after the social media account tweeted an unfortunate and unintended pun: | |
| It's sleepy time so we're off to hit the hay! See you at 8am for more #TescoTweets | It's sleepy time so we're off to hit the hay! See you at 8am for more #TescoTweets |
| The customer care account later tweeted its apologies: | The customer care account later tweeted its apologies: |
| @SophyRidgeSky I'm terribly sorry. That tweet was scheduled before we knew of the current situation. We'd never intend to make light of it. | @SophyRidgeSky I'm terribly sorry. That tweet was scheduled before we knew of the current situation. We'd never intend to make light of it. |
| 5. #susanalbumparty | 5. #susanalbumparty |
| It was meant to be an invite to the launch of Susan Boyle's new album. Instead, an unfortunate hashtag meant Twitter was invited to an entirely different kind of party than the one the singer's PR team had in mind. | It was meant to be an invite to the launch of Susan Boyle's new album. Instead, an unfortunate hashtag meant Twitter was invited to an entirely different kind of party than the one the singer's PR team had in mind. |
| Debunking site Is Twitter Wrong? tracked down the original tweet from Susan Boyle's official Twitter account, noting it was hastily changed to the more family-friendly #SusanBoyleAlbumParty. | Debunking site Is Twitter Wrong? tracked down the original tweet from Susan Boyle's official Twitter account, noting it was hastily changed to the more family-friendly #SusanBoyleAlbumParty. |
| Major discovery: #susanalbumparty was real! But it wasn't this week; it was sent on October 30 (and quickly corrected): pic.twitter.com/W4iCzv4F | Major discovery: #susanalbumparty was real! But it wasn't this week; it was sent on October 30 (and quickly corrected): pic.twitter.com/W4iCzv4F |
| By then, it was definitely too late and there were mock-invites to Susan's party popping up left, right and centre. | By then, it was definitely too late and there were mock-invites to Susan's party popping up left, right and centre. |
| Of course, we're sure there are plenty more where those came from. Share your favourite corporate Twitter fails in the comments below. | Of course, we're sure there are plenty more where those came from. Share your favourite corporate Twitter fails in the comments below. |