Royal Dutch Airlines Wins World Cup Twitter Fail

The airline posted a racially insensitive tweet bashing the Mexican World Cup team after a last-minute loss to the Dutch squad.

royal dutch airlines twitter world cup2

For as many well-executed real-time marketing tweets, there are dozens more miserable failures.

Yesterday the Netherlands’ KLM airlines, also known as Royal Dutch, angered the Twittersphere by posting a racially insensitive Tweet after the Dutch World Cup team managed to win against Mexico in the last six minutes of Sunday’s match. Screen Shot 2014-06-30 at 1.49.11 PM

While real-time marketing is today’s in-strategy, for some brands, during some events, a smarter tactic is to not say anything at all. Brands must be aware of the social media minefield, where ordinary users lie in wait to call them out on their blunders.

Last

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Spring Special

Save 30% Off an ADWEEK Subscription Today!

View Your Options

Already a member? Sign in