McDonald’s did it in New Zealand. A franchise knowingly spammed the #EQNZ hashtag. This #EQNZ hashtag was reserved for emergency use; at least that’s what most of the people in that area thought. So don’t get any ideas about spamming a coming hurricane or a winter storm hashtag with your business opportunities or marketing.

Here’s the tweet that a McDonald’s franchise sent out after the first New Zealand earthquake:

  • “Shakey town Christchurch I think you could do with some McDonald’s #eqnz”

Employees at McDonald’s spammed a hashtag reserved for earthquake emergencies. They must have thought that a McDonald’s meal was the solution to those who lost family, loved ones and property. Note my sarcasm.

It did not go over well in New Zealand. Many people complained to McDonalds about that tweet. As a result, their Twitter account was deleted shortly after McDonald’s pussy footed around. There were the classic denials… “No they did not do it”. But in the end…”Yes we did it”. It was quite the mess to watch as McDonalds tried to do some damage control. I saw what was happening in New Zealand all the way from Nova Scotia.

McDonalds-NewZealand-Spams-EQNZ-Hashtag

To be fair to McDonalds, they were not the only ones who did this. In this case, it was an isolated franchise who spammed the #eqnz hashtag. They were experimenting with Twitter at that time, and were letting their staff each have a go at it. This is not what we are accustomed to see from McDonalds.

So, yes it does happen. It can and does happen anywhere.  Yes, it can happen in Halifax, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia or elsewhere. I just takes someone who wants to create a lot of visibility for their business quickly, without thinking of the consequences.

Certain hashtags can and will be reserved for natural disasters and times of unrest. Businesses should avoid placing their promotions and their marketing efforts in these hashtags in hopes of creating greater visibility. Just because you can do it does not mean that you should spam hashtags. If you do, you could create a whole lot of hate directed right back at you.

Businesses need to create visibility. But they need to do it the smart and ethical way. Let’s not enter in to the hall of shame by spamming a Twitter hashtag.

I want to wish you are great day in business. Let’s be smart out here today folks.