Monday night provided the perfect example of why social media can be simultaneously inspiring and soul crushing.
Twitter lit up after the suspension of NFL player Ray Rice for beating his wife Janay, with thousands of women opening up about #WhyIStayed in violent relationships. Janay Rice has faced criticized for her decision to stay with her husband following the incident of domestic abuse.
But in an attempt to stay #social #media #relevant, DiGiorno’s Twitter account hijacked the trending hashtag to … sell frozen pizza.
Quickly realizing its error, DiGiorno deleted the tweet and explained that it actually hadn’t taken the extra ten seconds to click on the hashtag to see what exactly it was contributing to.
DiGiorno’s entire “brand” relies on snark and exploiting trending topics. But this instance was nothing like cracking jokes about #TheSoundofMusicLive.
And it has been apologizing to the many people it offended ever since:
Brands, please: look before you tweet.
(h/t: Mic)
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race , Endorses Harris to Replace Him
- Why Biden Dropped Out
- The Chaos and Commotion of the RNC in Photos
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Stop Feeling Bad About Sweating
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Contact us at letters@time.com