There probably isn’t anyone alive who hasn’t heard about Anthony Weiner’s stupid Twitter move. I won’t rehash that here, but I will tell you that this isn’t, by any stretch, the last time someone is going to do something dumb using a social platform.
This week, bakery giant Entenmann’s f’ed up on Twitter by tweeting a hashtag they didn’t thoroughly research.
The hashtag, #notguilty was trending because of the Casey Anthony verdict.
Not-so-savvy Entenmann’s thought they’d take advantage of the trend, jump on the bandwagon and add #notguilty to a tweet about tasty treats.
Uh, no.
TechCrunch said this:
Depending on what you believe, the voice of @Entenmann’s either decided it would be funny to hashtag surf on the trending #notguilty hashtag or sincerely didn’t look and just stuck a random #notguilty in a tweet about eating tasty tweets, presumably to get pickup.
In any case, misuse of a hashtag by a business or a brand is a serious mistake, whether intentional or merely misguided. Understanding hashtags, what they mean, why the trend, when to use them, is imp0rtant if you’re using Twitter for business.
Don’t be a Weiner or an Entenmann’s, in this case.