Social media platforms are a crazy place for businesses. In their enthusiasm to remain the center of attention with witty campaigns, some companies make blunders too big to be ignored. Here are the biggest social media fails of 2013 that made a lot of brands reconsider what should and shouldn’t be said to their audiences.
#1) The Home Office Feed Fail
A stream of Tweets by the Home Office with consecutively changing facts got it in a lot of trouble with the audiences.
A total of 139 suspected #immigrationoffenders have been arrested in raids across the UK today http://t.co/bRWNrGYMXd
— The Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) August 1, 2013
A suspected visa overstayer arrested at Swansea nail bar – 94 suspected #immigrationoffenders arrested across UK pic.twitter.com/aoBAXAHVJB
— The Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) August 1, 2013
62 suspected #immigrationoffenders arrested across UK – 2 arrested in Brentwood following Home Office operations pic.twitter.com/Fl2dJaCjAz
— The Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) August 1, 2013
People responded angrily to these, claiming that Home Office’s feed required a punch in the face.
#2) The HMV Lay-Off Trouble
HMV decided to lay off a lot of employees at once, driving the latter to take matters to social media and post tweets from the company’s official account.
The last message from these disgruntled employees stated “Just overheard our Marketing Director (he’s staying, folks!) ask ‘How do I shut down Twitter?’”.
#3) The Benadryl Mapping Campaign
Benadryl tried to make something creative during the hay fever season but the result soon turned into a big joke. The company asked people to pin up places where they sneezed on a map. Here is what some people came up with.
Oh no! People vandalising a pollen map with rudeness. We never intended for any of this! http://t.co/9O80jguUJ9 pic.twitter.com/5bA66Qes9U
— Us Vs Them (@UsVsTh3m) July 2, 2013
Not a good idea. Enough said!
#4) Luton Airport’s Image Disaster
Luton Airport went a bit overboard with their attempt at creating a competitive edge. Here is what they posted on Facebook:
Sadly, the image included was of a real-life plane crash that resulted in the death of a six-year-old passenger. Offended replies followed this and the picture was removed shortly afterwards.
#5) Burger King’s Hacked Account
The official Twitter account of Burger King was taken over by hackers early in the year. They changed the account image to a McDonalds logo and posted some bizarre tweets about the company’s food and employees. Needless to say, they weren’t very flattering.
#6) Epicurious Trying to Profit via Boston Bombings
Epicurious’ attempts to imply that their cereal can help people deal with the shock of Boston Bombing tragedy resulted in a huge angry outcry from the audience.
It’s still not clear what the company was thinking exactly by trying to capitalize such a tragedy. Definitely not a good idea!
