Death By Twitter: Beach Edition

We will now add to the adage I mentioned earlier this week: "Things Not To Joke About On Social Media".  Suicide and Shootings.

 

One would think that these are self-evident, yet another rule breaker comes to light this week, after the shootings at LAX.  Newport Beach's marketing director (or shall I say former marketing director), Jeff Soto tweeted this less-than-savvy tweet less than three hours after the shooting.

 

 

Yeah, that one is a firable offense.  The tweet was removed within the hour and Soto's job did not last much longer. 

 

Take this as a cautionary tale.  Followup tweets from Newport Beach explained that they hadn't seen the update of the fatal shooting yet and were focusing on reports of closures and people stuck at the airport.  In an attempt to make quick and relevant updates (think "Oreo Moment"), they ended up making a faux pas.

 

“It’s ultimately our fault to rush something out without finding all the facts. We wouldn’t intentionally do this I assure you,” the group Tweeted Friday.

 

In this case, I think three hours after the incident is enough time to get the whole story.  But it brings up an interesting point.  Our benchmark for this "real-time relevant marketing" is typically the aforementioned "Oreo Moment", when the brand tweeted a pic after the SuperBowl Blackout.  If that blackout had been fatal, or -God forbid- an attack, we might be shaming Oreo instead of praising it! 

 

How do you balance fact-finding with real-time tweeting? 

Death By Twitter: Mascot Edition

You know the old adage about topics to avoid at parties: politics and religion.

I think we need a new such adage about topics not to joke about on Social Media. At the top of this list: suicide.

An unlikely Tweeter learned this lesson the hard way this week, and makes our latest "Death by Twitter".

Freddie the Falcon is the mascot for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, a team that is currently not doing so hot on the field with a 2-6 record so far this year.

Well, Freddie decided to tie in his recent appearance at a American Foundation for Suicide Prevention walk with his team's recent dismal performance. After the walk, Freddie posted a message on Twitter that has since been deleted, reading:

"Had a good time at the #ood suicide prevention walk today. I may need to go back if our season continues the way it is."

I am always baffled at who approves these Tweets. Getting a slight laugh over a topic that is so emotionally packed, especially after just supporting people who care deeply about the prevention, is just irresponsible.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention released the following statement, in what I think is a classy way to handle this situation:

For the more than 1,000 survivors of suicide loss who participated in today's walk, suicide prevention is no laughing matter. We hope everyone who joined us today, including Freddie, support our vision for a world without suicide.

 

Freddie realized the error in his ways and posted the following apology not much later. There is no word yet as to if the social media manager who allowed this still has a job or not. We've seen many lose their jobs due to tasteless tweets. Do you think this is a fireable offense? 

DIY Costumes for Social Media Mavens!

BOO!

Yes, folks, it's Halloween weekend! (Well, at least the first of two!)

And if you are a last minute planner, you might have not planned a costume yet.

Well don't just throw a bedsheet over your head and say you are a ghost (although, that is fun, I know from experience).  If you are obsessed with Social Media like I am, some of these awesome Internet Inspired Costumes will be worth the effort!!

DIFFICULT:

So, yeah, Grumpy Cat isn't new but he IS adorable. And you will be too in this costume.  Basically an adaptation of the normal, everyday cat costume.  Add heavily darkened eyes, a frown over your mouth and make a cardboard frame for yourself and voila! 

EASY:

With a basic black or white outfit and some construction paper, you can transform yourself into either hardware or software that everyone loves.  A black dress + Mini apps = iPhone!! White outfit + cardboard easel = Pinterest board!  Or even easier -- just wear a white shirt with some safety pins!

EVEN EASIER:

Okay, this is for people who are kinda slackers, but we love you anyway.  Write on a shirt: "ERROR 404: Costume Not Found".  All of a sudden, your laziness looks like tech genius.  You're welcome.

No matter what your preferred level of difficulty, have fun, be safe and HAPPY Halloween!!

What Breaking Bad and Oreos Have In Common

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT.

If you haven't watched the final episode of Breaking Bad, stop reading now.

 

Great, I figured since it's been almost a week since the final episode, it was pretty much safe to write about this.  Remember during last year's Superbowl blackout when Oreo placed that awesome real-time ad on Twitter?  Well, people are referring to similar real-time marketing efforts "Oreo Moments" now (how's that for some residual branding!). 

And the series finale that had everyone talking had some pretty great attempts at "Oreo Moments". 

I've listed my favorite three below.

 

 

Clorox on Twitter: Maybe the most similar to the Oreo Moment, is Clorox's tightie whitie ad.  Granted, this seems less real-time than the Oreo ad because it is a nod to Walter's choice undies, which was part of the plot line for years now.  This could have easily been thought up months ago and just ready to tweet.  Still, I like the tie-in. 

Century 21 and Craigslist:

Using a little bit of a different avenue, Century 21 pulled a clever stunt just hours before the finale's start by posting a fake ad for the White's New Mexico home on Craigslist sales page.  The ad claimed it was selling the ranch style Albuquerque home and called it "fit for a king" as well as a host of other insider tidbits in the description. 

Truvia on Twitter: Here's the REAL spoiler alert, which goes along with my personal favorite ad for this blog.  Background: In the final episode, Walter kills someone by replacing her choice sweetener, stevia, with poison. This Truvia ad makes my #1 spot because it's clever AND was obviously thought up in real-time as the finale aired.  Granted, the ad didn't post for a few hours after the show.... but still, the edginess of the tweet probably had to clear some level of lawyers!

How about you?  See any other "Oreo Moments" in the Breaking Bad series finale??

Government Shutdowns on Twitter!

The government shutdown.

It's what everyone is talking about.

And while you may not have experienced ramifications of this yet in your day to day life, I'm gonna clue you in on some that are on Twitter!

Yup. When certain government sections are shut down, well it means their Twitter accounts are shut down too! So for now, until they get this mess fixed, here are 5 Government accounts that you shouldn't expect to hear tweeting....

1. U.S. Capitol (@USCapitol): Probably to be expected (and not sure who follows this anyway) but no more tweets from the Capital for now.

2.FAA Safety Briefing (@FAASafetyBrief): More relevant I might say, this account is meant to update with flying safety news, but is shutdown for now.

3. StatueOfLiberty (@StatueLibrtyNPS): Hope you weren't planning a visit to Lady Liberty any time soon. You won't be able to check her out on Twitter if you were.

4. National Zoo (@NationalZoo): Another main tourist attraction down. And not only is their Twitter down but so is the Panda Cam feed (which was just adorably cute, by the way!)

5. NASA's Asteroid Watch (@asteroidwatch): Let's just pray no asteroids are on a collision course with earth right now or us Twitter-folk will be in for a surprise!

How else have you been effected by the shutdown?

The Sweet Side of Social Media

News on social media can get rough. With all the hateful language and distasteful tweets lately, I thought I'd bring a little ray of social media sunshine to your Wednesday.

The Toronto Star reported that earlier this week, Twitter enabled a very touching reunion. Sometimes it truly is the little things that count, this reunion was between a little boy and his lost stuffed animal!

Adorable, right? Five-year-old Caeden had lost his favorite stuffed animal at the Toronto Pearson Airport. But thanks to the wonders of Twitter, a few strategic hashtags (#findmyowner), and the kind heart of police officer Sgt Chris Boddy, their reunion happened in only 24 hours.

Yup, Sgt Boddy took it upon himself to tweet about the lost pup, and was retweeted almost 300 times until the message found its way to Caeden's family.

You know, it may seem like a little thing. But sometimes the little things ARE the big things.

Have you seen Twitter being used for good lately? Tell us how in the comments!

A True American Beauty

There's something about a beauty pageant that can bring out the ugly in people.

Sadly, that is what happened on social media when the beautiful Nina Davuluri won the title of Miss America on Sunday night.

Nina, a native New Yorker, is the first Indian-American to be crowned Miss America. Throughout the pageant, Nina showed the pride she has in her heritage.  Her talent was a classic Bollywood dance and her platform was "celebrating diversity through cultural competency".  But no sooner did the crown hit her head than social media blew up with terrible and racist comments.  I am not going to even give these tweets and posts the notoriety of being quoted in this blog.  The ignorance and blatantly racist stereotypes were disgusting; people linking her to terrorist groups, calling her not "really American" and making derogatory statements about belonging in 7-11.  

I am proud of Miss America and wish Nina all the best and hope she takes the high road in dealing with these types of comments.  And I think it's about time that people stop hiding behind their computer screens and typing hateful comments about others.  We need a little more love and beauty in this world, and a LOT less vitriol spread over social media.  

Were you watching Sunday?  What were your thoughts?