In yet another example of finger to keyboard disease, Justine Sacco the head of Public Relations for digital giant IAC, has provided the Internet with another Twitter faux-pas. Here is the tweet in all it’s glory!
Speechless! This leaves me with my mouth hanging wide open. Thank God that Justine Sacco has told us that being white prevents one from contracting AIDS.
In case you’re not aware, IAC is the parent company of huge sites that are quite familiar in the online world. They include Vimeo, Tinder, OkCupid, CollegeHumor, Dictionary.com, and more. So we’re not talking about some tech-illiterate corporate executive. We’re talking about a savvy Twitter user who should have known better.
In typical form, the tweet got deleted, the account was deleted and I’m sure we’ll see the obligatory defense responses to be forthcoming as well. All of which we can simply call bullshit on in advance. Sacco tried to be funny. She tried to be witty and cute. And failed miserably.
You can’t hide from these mistakes. It’s why so many brands and businesses say Twitter doesn’t work. In the world of copywriting, and in the pretend world of advertising, you can make sure these kinds of mistakes never see the light of day. Twitter is for real. You’re flying live without a net. That’s scary for some.
Obviously a seasoned veteran like Sacco didn’t realize that her words would be held up for all to see. Now she’s a laughing stock. Albeit deservedly so.
Twitter is an amazing tool, if you know how to use it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, here’s what happens:
