These brands should have known better... What travels faster on the web – good news or epic fails? Well to give you an answer there is more than one tweet posted every second with the hashtag #FAIL.
Fail number 1. Being rude.
Rentokil, those crazy pest controllers, decided to get in on the social media action through the use of Twitter. When they started randomly following people, which is commonly known as follow spam, people started asking why. Rentokil answered that they were initially looking to follow “pest control related people”, and then “experts”. Most of those followed didn’t fall into either category and found being labelled as such to be offensive.
So what did Rentokil do? The released this statement:
“The beauty of Twitter is that you get to meet all kinds of people online, and not all of them with something in common with you. And that’s why you need to start talking to people, a bit like when you go to a party and know no-one but the host. Remember that thing called mingling? Try it, you might like it!”
Yeah... not really making too many friends this way Rentokil.
What have we learnt today? Don’t be rude.
Fail number 2. Being a spammer.
They do lovely coffee tables, but Habitat can’t use Twitter. Wanting to offer great discounts and increase sign ups to their database they joined the dark side of web marketing. Using #hashtags to come up in popular streams or trending topics such as #iPhone, #Trueblood, #Apple and even #Mousavi (used for the Iranian elections). Not very wise.
Feedback from existing customer and long time brand advocates was terrible.
What have we learnt today? Avoid being spam. Don’t jump on the band wagon with Iranian elections.
Fail number 3. Making light of people dying.
The news over the past 4 months has shown us shocking images from events taking place in North Africa and the Middle East. The uprisings in Egypt where almost 1,000 people were killed and over 6,000 injured is no laughing matter. Fashion label Kenneth Cole didn’t think so.
Here is the famous Tweet that was their undoing:
“Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at (adds link) KC.”
After that tweet the real backlash came from Twitter. Here was how they handled their response:
“I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.
Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer”
What have we learnt today? Think before you tweet. Don’t be insensitive.
And for good measure ...
I have added another Tweet. This is pure genius and super relevant to recruitment.
Twitter user “theconner” was happy as she had just landed a well-paid job from internet company Cisco, but was not sure whether to accept. She tweeted the following: “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.” However soon after the company rescinded the offer tweeting: “Who is the hiring manager? I’m sure they would love to know you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.”
Check out some more twitter #FAILs at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/5250680/Top-10-worst-tweets.html
