[imagesource: Twitter / @rysimmons]
Twitter was a mad, mad place yesterday.
When news of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing broke, there was mourning, there were celebrations (not everybody loves the monarchy), and there was cringe to the max.
I’ll leave the mourning and the celebrations alone and focus on the cringe. Before we get to that, a moment of silence for the scheduled tweets that came out at the worst possible time.
This may be the worst of the lot:
— FK U! (@FRANKIETWT) September 8, 2022
It has been deleted, and I would guess the job of the person responsible for that social media account has suffered a similar fate.
Rolling Stone has done the hard yards and compiled some strange condolence messages:
Corporate accounts hopping into the aftermath of public tragedy can be perceived as clumsy or pandering at best, at worst downright offensive exploitation. It’s often well intentioned, but I assure you, Brand, letting your social media intern off the hook for the afternoon hurts no one…
Customers will still be there, no one will fault you for abandoning parasocial marketing strategies for a day, and you can stick to being what you are: a brand that sells things.
But no, tweet they must and yesterday was one for the ages:
Rest in Peace
Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022 pic.twitter.com/eou217S8SZ
— PLAYMOBIL (@playmobil) September 8, 2022
Rest In Peace, Queen Elizabeth II, a global leader whose grace and influence spanned so many generations. pic.twitter.com/JzJjPfbabG
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 8, 2022
Sure, I’ve heard the Queen was a huge fan of Grand Theft Auto.
Rest in peace, your majesty. pic.twitter.com/2vGZae5lay
— 9GAG
Memeland (@9GAG) September 8, 2022
We mourn the loss of Her Majesty the Queen, a leading world figure, a beacon of light and symbol of democracy. Her role in the United Kingdom and among its allies will shape the future. Our thoughts are with her family at this time. pic.twitter.com/yhhVXWc8Xr
— Raytheon Technologies (@RaytheonTech) September 8, 2022
— Hamilton West End (@HamiltonWestEnd) September 8, 2022
Someone pointed out that this Hamilton tweet is like when the FBI tweets about Martin Luther King Day. Yes, it’s the London production tweeting, but Hamilton is about the American war of independence where the British monarchy is one of the antagonists.
These lyrics are from a song that is sung during each performance:
meanwhile they’re singing this onstage every night https://t.co/cdAXAf8G0A pic.twitter.com/i0A433qaSq
— issa phae | 6MORE !!! (@mizphantasm) September 8, 2022
Back to those brands:
— Domino’s Pizza UK (@Dominos_UK) September 8, 2022
— Heinz (@HeinzUK) September 8, 2022
Imagine the scene – one of King Charles III’s consorts stopping him in the hallways to say that pizza and ketchup send their condolences.
Perhaps the best of the lot comes from Clutchpoints, a US-based sports media company. I used the image up top, but here it is in its entirety:
clutchpoints deleted this but i’m not sure why?? pic.twitter.com/ngs5duzVTc
— Ryan (@rysimmons) September 8, 2022
Probably a good call to delete and move on.
Or, and this is really something worth considering, don’t tweet at all.
[source:rollingstone]
