Careful with Those Hashtags

I recently posted a blog mentioning some of the good things McDonald’s was doing on social media. Today comes a cautionary tale from the fast food giant about Twitter hashtags. The Huffington Post reports (or whatever you call it when an aggregate news site reposts stuff):

From there, the #McDStories hashtag was born, but probably not in the way McDonald’s was hoping. Negative tweets about the fast food giant began to proliferate, prompting the New York Observer to remark that "some stories are better left untold." Tweets ranged from tweeting about being high while eating McDonald’s to throwing up the food.

While the hashtag grew steam, McDonald’s also had a back and forth with PETA on Twitter, in which McDonald’s tried to correct some of PETA’s allegations about using mechanically separated white meat.

This isn’t the first time that a fast food company has lost control of its hashtag, points out MainStreet.com. Perhaps even worse than #McDStories was Wendy’s hashtag of last year, #HeresTheBeef.

Leave a Reply