Twitter disasters: last week’s crisis roundup

January 15 2016

By @G_Parsons33

Published in Crisis

2016 may have only just begun, but a good number of brands have already found themselves in hot water on Twitter. We took a look at some of those that found themselves under fire last week.

1 - The Sun’s #SmearTheDocs scandal

The Sun was the subject of ridicule on Twitter last week after attempting to tarnish the image of NHS junior doctors in the run up to their strike on Tuesday. The article branded the strike leaders “Moët Medics”, claiming that they were overpaid and lived lavish lifestyles. The newspaper also used photos from leaders’ social media posts showing them on exotic holidays.

The social media backlash was immediate and huge. Using the #SmearTheDocs hashtag, junior doctors took to Twitter to ridicule The Sun with very sarcastic posts:

The situation only got worse when it was discovered that one of the doctors portrayed as being on a lavish holiday in the photos published by The Sun was actually volunteering abroad at the time.

The key data

The #Smearthedocs hashtag was used in 43,857 tweets last week between January 10th and January 13th, as we can see in the Visibrain tweet volume graph below.

Tweet volumes for the #smearthedocs hashtag

@TheSun was mentioned 5,142 times, and if we look at the top expressions used in tweets mentioning the newspaper, we can see that the terms being used were far from complimentary: “appalling journalism”, shameful behaviour” and “apologize now” all appear in the word cloud below:

The most commonly used expressions in tweets mentioning The Sun using the #smearthedocs hashtag

What it means for the brand

Although the scandal has now died down, it hasn’t done much to improve The Sun’s image. The newspaper has been criticized in the past for its reporting methods, such as the case of Jeremy Corbyn’s Remembrance Day bow.

The #SmearTheDocs scandal is a reminder that it always pays to do your research, especially when dealing with social media. Failing to provide context for the “exotic holiday” photos made an already bad situation even worse when the truth got out.

2 - The Crocs David Bowie tribute disaster

Shoe manufacturer Crocs also found themselves in the hot seat last week, after attempting to tweet a tribute to singer David Bowie, who died on Monday. The tweet, which has since been deleted, shows a white Crocs shoe and Bowie’s signature Ziggy Stardust lightning bolt. Many fans were deeply offended by the tweet, and immediately set to criticizing the brand’s post:

The tweet was deleted in under 30 minutes, but of course, it was too late, Twitter users had already taken screenshots of Crocs’ faux pas:

The key data

There were 2,319 tweets in total about Crocs’ post, with tweet volumes staying high for two consecutive days on Monday and Tuesday, before dropping sharply.

Tweet volumes for the Crocs David Bowie tribute scandal

Only 27% of tweets were retweets, showing that many chose to express their outrage individually rather than retweeting other’s posts.

What it means for the brand

This particular mishap is a perfect example of the dangers of tweeting about sensitive topics. By putting the image of a product in their post, Crocs made it appear as though they were attempting to profit from the situation.

The backlash was short-lived however, and tweet volumes stayed comparatively low throughout, so it should all be no more than an embarrassing blip on Crocs’ social media record.

3 - Chipotle’s One-dollar burrito hoax

Chipotle has been dealing with the ongoing damage of a massive E. Coli outbreak since November, and is still struggling to regain the confidence of customers and investors alike. It was announced last week that the brand is now due to face a lawsuit from investors, who claim that the brand was misleading them about its compliance with food-safety regulations.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the brand took another hot on social media when satirical news site the Satira Tribune published and tweeted a fake article announcing that Chipotle would be selling burritos for just one dollar all week:

Unfortunately for Chipotle, some fans believed the fake and rushed to ask if it was true; at the time this article was written and the post had been retweeted a whopping 7,329 times.

The key data

There were 13,413 tweets referring to the fake Chipotle deal posted last week, as we can see from the screenshot of the Visibrain Quick Trends tweet volume graph taken below:

Tweet volumes ofr the Chipotle one dollar burrito hoax

Chipotle reacted well, responding to queries and dispelling the hoax as much as possible:

What it means for the brand

Satira Tribune’s fakery has left a lot of people feeling disappointed, but it’s far from the biggest issue Chipotle is having to deal with as a brand at the moment. The incident is a good example of just how fast false information can spread on Twitter, and the importance of using effective social media monitoring to avoid letting things get out of control.

BONUS: Southeastern Trains

Southeastern Trains were the subject of ridicule last week after blaming delays and congestion on “strong sunshine”. Understandably, commuters found the excuse to be a bit on the weak side, and took to Twitter to express their frustration with the company:

The situation was even picked up by the national press:

The key data

Southeastern Trains’ lame excuses attracted 1,925 tweets as we can see below:

Tweet volumes for Southeastern Trains after they posted their excuse for delays.

What it means for the brand

The incident was short-lived, but is proof of how words must be chosen carefully when communicating on social media. Train drivers may well have experienced problems due to the low winter sun, but the wording used on Twitter made it sound like a poor excuse indeed.

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Published in Crisis