If you run the Twitter account for a major international business, take this as a cautionary tale.
It’s been a pretty bad day for whoever is in charge of fast-food chain Burger King’s Twitter account. Earlier this afternoon, the account was hacked and began suggesting that the company had been sold to McDonalds. The hackers even changed the logo and header photos to enrich the joke.
Four nearly a half an hour, the hackers maintained control of the account, sending out some nonsensical/obscene tweets, links to rap videos, and the like. As of right now, the account has been suspended.
Other tweets included “Try our new BK Bath Salt 99% Pure MDPV! Buy a Mig Mac, get a gram free!” and “We caught one of our employees in the bathroom doing this,” which linked to a picture of a guy shooting up.
Early on, online hacktivist group Anonymous took responsibility for the hack, called it #OpMadCow. The motivation behind the attack, if there actually was any besides #lulz, is currently unknown.
HAHAHAHA RT @burgerking: Everybody follow us! @youranonnews #OpMadCow
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) February 18, 2013
McDonald’s has issued a statement via Twitter, in which they say that they “empathize” with Burger King. McDonald’s, as you may know, is no stranger to having bad days on Twitter.
We empathize with our @burgerking counterparts. Rest assured, we had nothing to do with the hacking.
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) February 18, 2013
We’re not so sure about Taco Bell, however:
@verticityy No comment.
— TACO BELL (@TacoBell) February 18, 2013