When tweets go wrong...

Social media can be used by celebrities and corporations to help promote their brand. However, as many celebrities and corporations have learned the hard way, social media can also be a poisoned chalice.

Here are a few examples where celebrities and brands found that tweets can sometimes backfire...

1) Even edgier than the real thing

The Edge tweeted a photo of himself in front of the Eiffel Tower and asked U2's twitter followers, "Guess where I am?"

The Edge.
He didn't go to the top as he gets Vertigo.

As you can imagine, the replies probably weren't what The Edge was anticipating...

"Offshoring your massive wealth somewhere? Attempting further tax evasion?"

"The hedge."

"Dodging tax?"

"Hopefully not in my iTunes."

"Bobble hat repair shop?"

"Standing under a structural representation of Bono's ego?"

"A tax haven?"

"Up your own ****!?"

"Have you found what you were looking for?"

"Bono said are you coming up the top? I’m going with or without you."

2) A reminder have of the score

Back when he played for Arsenal, Theo Walcott was another who discovered that tweets can sometimes go wrong. After Arsenal beat Tottenham 2-0, Theo gloated to Spurs fans by using emojis to remind them of the score...

"Who would of  have thought✌️👌"

However, the tweet backfired when fans were quick to point out Theo's poor grammar with the following replies...

"Would have, not of."

"You must not 'of' been very good at your English classes."

"I incorrectly believed that you were one of the more intelligent footballers!"

"I know I'm not the only one to spot this monstrous grammar error, but yeah, can't help correcting anyway; it's 'who would've thought' Theo, not would of!! Come on, man, wise up!"


And Theo didn't only get stick about his grammar...

"When are you fit? Looking forward to your usual spot on the bench?"

"Everyone ... when they saw you were not part of starting line up."

"The number of England squads you’ve been selected in recently because you’ve been bang average at best for three years. 👌"

"You don't believe in yourself, man?"

"Who would have thought you're still getting paid a fortune for doing nothing?"

3) Stardodgers

Finally, back in 2012 Starbucks launched a badly thought out twitter campaign when they started the 'spread the cheer' hashtag. The timing wasn't the greatest, as it had recently been revealed that Starbucks had paid only £8.5 million in tax in the UK since it launched in 1998.

You can probably guess how the replies turned out...

"I like buying coffee that tastes nice from a shop that pays tax. So I avoid Starbucks."

A big fail by the PR team at Starbucks.

"If I didn't pay my tax I'd be fined, imprisoned and forced to pay back what I owe. Starbucks promises to do better next time."

"Why pay tax when you can buy politicians at a fraction of the price?"

"Please stop exploiting workers in coffee plantations."

"Buy independent from a coffee shop that pays their taxes."

"I'll have a tax-dodging, profiteering, grande skinny rip-off please."

"Wake up and smell the tax dodging."

"Very glad the tax dodgers (I mean Starbucks) #SpreadTheCheer campaign went so badly."

"Starbucks you bunch of freeloaders. Time to pay your taxes like independent coffee shops do."

"Starbucks coffee has that bitter taste one associates with tax evasion. "


If you know of any other corporations or celebrities who learnt the hard way that tweets can backfire, then feel free to post an example in the comments.

You can find Charles Fudgemuffin on twitter, but sadly you won't find any ill-advised tweets. Charles generally just tweets the occasional silly joke or silly meme, and tends to keep away from badly thought out tweets.
Twitter: @CFudgemuffin