ICYMI: The Internet Loved McDonald's Black Friday Twitter Fail
Although it may be a brand's worst nightmare, the internet loves a good social media fail. The McDonald's Corp.'s Twitter account was the most recent brand to suffer a public gaffe — on super-visible social media day Black Friday, no less! — causing endless dragging by Twitter users who just wanted to take the Golden Arches' public image for a ride through the mud. We're sure it was a minor tragedy for the world's largest restaurant chain, but it was a comedic gold mine for anyone following the Twitter thread.
The tweet that started it all was a rookie social media mistake. "Black Friday **** Need copy and link****" planned some poor social media editor or intern who had overlooked filling in what was between the asterisks on arguably the most visible day for brand social media accounts to tweet about deals. The tweet, which as of this morning had received 22,863 retweets and 71,620 likes, did not slip by the shrewd eyes of the Twitterverse unnoticed.
Black Friday **** Need copy and link****
— McDonald's (@McDonaldsCorp) November 24, 2017
"Mcshook," tweeted Kerry Sanders, using a GIF of a crying Ronald McDonald.
— Kerry Sanders (@kwsanders) November 24, 2017
"Is this something brilliant? I'm not getting it =]," responded Eric Jou.
Is this something brilliant? I'm not getting it =]
— Eric Jou (@FatAsianTechie) November 24, 2017
Chef Mike Haracz responded sarcastically with our favorite Kris Jenner GIF, "You're doing amazing sweetie."
— Chef Mike Haracz (@Mike_Haracz) November 24, 2017
The fast food powerhouse attempted to recover quickly with a follow-up tweet blaming the mistake on a lack of coffee and promoting their McDonald's brand java:
"When you tweet before your first cup of McCafé... Nothing comes before coffee."
When you tweet before your first cup of McCafé... Nothing comes before coffee. pic.twitter.com/aPJ2ZupS9b
— McDonald's (@McDonaldsCorp) November 24, 2017
But Twitter didn't relent, sending McDonald's a hearty dose of GIFs teasing them for their "excellent" recovery tweet.
— Pam Sweetman (@PamSweetman) November 24, 2017
@the_eigengrau #greatrecovery #saved pic.twitter.com/rpuuBB8FAk
— Matt Forster (@thisandmatt) November 24, 2017
I believe in you. pic.twitter.com/G1Qik2byLf
— Eigengrau (@the_eigengrau) November 24, 2017
Nope. pic.twitter.com/NHToPJ1rGN
— Luca Colombo (@Luke_Colombs) November 24, 2017
Some social and community managers even expressed their empathy for the situation, which although embarrassing proved to be an excellent source of social traffic!
TRUTH! 😆 (And followed!) Love from one Community Manager to another- I've been there! 😁
— Helen Zbihlyj (@HelenAngel) November 24, 2017
Nice save guys 😉 Someone's social media manager needs a pat on the back 😂
— BlueChief (@BlueChiefSocial) November 24, 2017
Huge kudos. Own your mistakes on social!
(I've definitely made this mistake before too...) #SocialMediaMarketing pic.twitter.com/uK0SrbAklT
— Lisa 👩🏼💻 Social Media Manager (@lisaboylesmedia) November 24, 2017
Think this restaurant fail was bad? It hardly measures up too these 10 worst restaurant social media disasters.