Chrysler cursed on Twitter. What’s the big fucking deal?
Bad judgment is the BFD.
According to Ad Age, an employee of New Media Strategies who was tweeting from the @ChryslerAutos account wrote: “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to fucking drive.”
Apparently, the employee was lost inside Twitter–he or she thought she was logged in to another, private, account. Oops. Damage done.
The employee was fired by NMS, and today, the agency was fired by Chrysler.
In the automaker’s communication blog to the media today, Chrysler Communications staffer Ed Garstens wrote, “The tweet denigrated drivers in Detroit and used the fully spelled-out F-word. It was obviously meant to be posted on the person’s personal Twitter account, and not the Chrysler Brand account where it appeared. So why were so sensitive? That commercial featuring the Chrysler 200, Eminem and the City of Detroit wasn’t just an act of salesmanship. This company is committed to promoting Detroit and its hard-working people. The reaction to that commercial, the catchphrase ‘imported from Detroit,’ and the overall positive messages it sent has been volcanic.”
“This is the motor city and this is what we do,” says Eminem at the end of the Super Bowl spot he anchors. Right, like no one in Detroit uses the f-word in every other sentence. NMS and its errant tweeter might have survived this debacle had they not denigrated the people of Detroit’s driving ability.
