The recent social marketing nightmare that has enveloped Vodafone UK’s operation has been highly talked about around the web. Dave Naylor has gone so far as to suggest it was a linkbait tactic. If it was, it was a dumb move that will cost Vodafone UK dearly.
There are many linkbait topics out there that do just that – bait people. The famous 13 year old who stole his dad’s credit card for xbox and hookers story by the ever brilliant Lyndoman at CornwallSEO is proof of the pudding of how easily the media lap it up.
For me, there is something not quite right about the notion that Vodafone, a massive multi-national corporation, have given their backing to a linkbait campaign that involves making derogatory comment about homosexuals and sexual references to oral sex via their very own Twitter feed. Both of these topics are minefields in themselves and whilst the general population are used to sleeze, shock-tactics and scandals I can honestly say that I don’t think Vodafone UK are not behind this one – despite amassing over 1,000 new Twitter followers.
At the moment there are many outraged customers getting onto their soapboxes and calling for the sacking of the “monsters” that were behind the Tweet, but it will all die down – at least until Vodafone UK tweet “Sorry for the balls up, but we have some great deals on a Google Nexus One coming up!”.
They might as well have said “I wanna show you my ball sack”.
