Top 5 Twitter Hashtag Fails by Brands of 2014
#RedSkinsPride
Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you. — Washington Redskins (@Redskins) May 29, 2014
One thing social media helps to do is give a voice to those who previously might not have had one. We’ve seen Twitter campaigns help to bring forth the public conversation that marginalized groups have been trying to bring to the mainstream for years. Changing the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins to a less demeaning title was big news. Everyone knew that many people thought the proper thing to do was to choose a name that didn’t offend Native American except perhaps the owners of the team. Senator Harry Reid had been the 50 senators that signed a letter sent to the NFL commission to try and force a name change. I suppose the team counted on overwhelming support from fans in this attempted campaign.
Giving smallpox infected blankets to children #redskinspride
— Jason Bintliff (@CPTPhiladelphia) May 29, 2014
U have 2 choices 1. Change your name 2. Move to Oklahoma & keep your racist name Stop being a national ebarassment #RedskinsPride #inners — Simple Serf (@Undertheman) May 29, 2014
@Redskins @SenatorReid I’ll be way more proud of my team if they do the right thing and Change The Name. @changeracism
— RichmondOpus (@RichmondOpus) May 29, 2014
A few people even saw it coming.
This will definitely go as planned RT @Redskins Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you. — stark (@jjmstark) May 29, 2014
In what way could this go wrong? RT @Redskins: Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.
— JAM (@modernjam) May 29, 2014
This campaign shows a serious lack of understanding of Twitter, social media, and comments on the Internet. Only someone with tunnel vision would think this would have worked out. The campaign may have actually sparked the opposing hashtag #ChangeTheName and caused it to trend. On top of that, this ill-conceived campaign may have had the opposite expected result by proving to the target, Senator Reid, that he was doing the right thing. Reid’s office responded to the hashtag by saying,
“From our perspective, what we saw was just overwhelming opposition to the team name,” Reid’s digital director Faiz Shakir told the Washington Post. “It’s really made our day. Twitter and social media in general is a wonderful outlet, because it gives a voice to so many people. What we saw was a collective, overwhelming outpouring that was heavily critical of the team. I hope that causes the organization to reflect on why that occurred.” washingtonpost.com Harry Reid’s office says #RedskinsPride ‘made our day’
The team still has the name but has since lost the trademark protection for the name due to it being “disparaging to Native Americans.” This social media director should be sacked.
Additional:
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24576323/redskins-pride-social-media-campaign-fails-miserably
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/true-redskins-meaning
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Jaylon Carter is a blogger, social media marketing consultant, former Congressional Campaign Media & Communications Director, national labor union vice block leader, and a Hip Hop artist who performs under the stage name Timid (@timidmc).
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