As Brands Newsjack #Lebron, Charmin & Cottonelle Shoot For Worst Tweets Ever

Major news can’t spread on Twitter anymore without brands big and small adding their two cents in an attempt to newsjack the situation. And today’s news that NBA superstar Lebron James is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers is no exception. King James, as he’s called, began his career with his hometown Cavaliers then left four […]

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Major news can’t spread on Twitter anymore without brands big and small adding their two cents in an attempt to newsjack the situation.

And today’s news that NBA superstar Lebron James is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers is no exception. King James, as he’s called, began his career with his hometown Cavaliers then left four years ago to form a dream team with the Miami Heat that won two NBA titles (and lost two others).

Those themes are popular among the brand tweets we’ve found so far in the couple hours since Lebron’s announcement went public. Orbitz and Barbasol tweeted on the “coming home” theme, while Sherwin-Williams praised Lebron for his color choice by showing the Cavaliers primary colors among its paint options.

Food brands jumped in pretty quickly, including McDonald’s, which counts Lebron as a spokesperson and has been running a commercial in recent months about a secret restaurant where he and other celebrities eat.

This coupon site focused on the money that the Miami Heat are saving by not having Lebron on its team.

The NFL chimed in with a tweet showcasing Lebron with one of its well-known rookies, Johnny Manziel, who’s on the Cleveland Browns football teams.

But for me, the two most bizarre tweets came from toilet paper companies. Both Charmin and Cottonelle managed to turn Lebron’s return to Cleveland into promotions/messages about using the toilet. I mean … really?

Those two companies have a pretty solid history of staying on message like this when trying to newsjack, so their tweets aren’t a surprise. And some of their previous efforts have been pretty funny, in my opinion. But today? These two just kinda … stink. (wink wink nudge nudge)


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Matt McGee
Contributor
Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.

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