Walkers Crisps stung by social media “fail”
Walkers Crisps became the latest brand to be stung by the (sic) unpredictable nature of social media when its #WalkersWave twitter competition rapidly descended into farce.
Print26 May 2017
Social media is a doubled-edged sword. On one side, it connects people all over the world, facilitating the sharing of ideas and information in a way nobody could even dream of 20 years ago. But it’s also an absolute minefield where mockery and mischief are like a currency.
Over the past few years, brands and other organisations have fallen foul to sabotage and hijacking of initiatives. Who could forget the infamous Boaty McBoatface incident, for example. That’s just one of many examples. Walkers Crisps would have been wise to remember that before launching its #WalkersWave initiative on Twitter this past week.
It was simple enough premise. Post a selfie on Twitter with the hashtag #WalkersWave, and the brand’s official account would embed your selfie into a video with long-time brand ambassador Gary Lineker. It was a bit of fun with a chance to bag tickets to the upcoming Champions League Final.
However, it went horribly wrong within minutes, as wags on Twitter realised that the automation was unmonitored, meaning any image would be added to the video. Soon, Lineker was posing with notorious criminals such as Fred West, Harold Shipman and many, many more.
After news of the hijacking spread, thousands of users piled on to join in the fun, before the company realised its mistake and shut the whole thing down.
“We recognise some people were offended by irresponsible and offensive posts,” the company said sheepishly later. “We apologise. We are equally upset and have shut the activity down.”
Well used to this sort of thing, however, hundreds of Twitter users reassured the brand that no offence was taken.
“Don’t apologise, it was wonderful,” said one user in a reply. “I’m going to buy some Walkers Crisps tomorrow.”
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