Should We Believe @CelebBoutique's #Aurora Tweet Explanation?

Lots of pieces have been written about @CelebBoutique's tweet exploiting the Colorado Batman shooting at this point . . . but it's still irksome. Is it the fact that they're back to 'business as usual' so soon after making one of the most insensitive Twitter gaffes ever that's driving folks nuts? Or maybe it's because we keep seeing so many posts about them and their lame apology? I'm not sure about you, but for me it's the wink. In case you missed it, @CelebBoutique sent out the following tweet when the #Aurora hashtag was trending (Aurora being the town in Colorado where a mass shooting killing 12 people took place): "@celebboutique: #Aurora is trending clearly about our Kim K inspired #Aurora dress ;)” They tweeted an apology later claiming they didn't know what the hashtag was about and blah blah blah (read it here on their Twitter stream if you like). But was it a mistake? Doubtful. Here's why: They are not new to Twitter. With more than 15k tweets to their account, you can bet your purple pumps they know their way around a trending hashtag. And you can also bet that whoever is manning their social media efforts is expected to know as well. It does not take "research" to figure out why something is trending. It involves clicking on the item and seeing all of the related media that pops up. One click. I've never heard of a business jumping on a Twitter trend without clicking first to see what the trend is about. It just. Doesn't. Happen. This was not an automated mistake. Nor have they claimed it to be. This was a human crafting this tweet. A human (or team of humans) who likely recalled the PR Kenneth Cole received for his Cairo tweet and sought to emulate that. Think about it - had YOU heard of CelebBoutique before this happened? The wink at the end of the tweet. This is what gets me. Even if everything above was false, even if the tweet was an automated mistake made by a machine and no one - no one - at CelebBoutique clicked #Aurora and saw the horror the hashtag was documenting - even if ALL of that was true, we still need to consider the wink at the end of the tweet. What does that wink at the end of the tweet mean to you? To me it means "we know we're being edgy" or at the least - "we know this isn't really about us, but we're hijacking the trending hashtag." And for them to know that the hashtag wasn't about them, they would have to know what it WAS about, wouldn't they? Yes, they would. Further, Celeb Boutique is a fan of emoticons. And they know how to use them. Here are some recent examples: Yes, go on, do it. Be edgy, like us. WINK. And finally, Celeb Boutique also knows its way around defensive SEO (search engine optimization) tactics. What does this mean? Google them and see what comes up first. Their website does - not the many, many articles written about them these past few days. That takes skillz. These folks know their way around the Internet and they would NOT make such a rookie mistake with a trending topic. No way. And if they did, they'd be firing whoever did it. But they haven't fired anyone (at least not publicly), so what does that tell you? It has been suggested on various sites that Celeb Boutique make a donation to a fund for the #Aurora victims. What do you think they should do? (Wink image from Shutterstock)

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Should We Believe @CelebBoutique's #Aurora Tweet Explanation?

Mary C. Long

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Mary C. Long