Anyone who uses the Internet knows how easily a simple typo can cause you to bring up a screen of offensive images that you didn’t plan or desire to see. US Airways recently found out that you can just as easily post an offensive image by clicking the wrong button. The company was trying to flag and delete a pornographic image on Twitter when they accidentally tweeted it instead.
Another Twitter user had sent the image to the airline’s page, and it depicted a girl and a toy airplane. The customer was upset that her flight was delayed and sent the image as a way to express her anger towards the airline. The image is now gone but as with most things of this nature, it has not been forgotten. It stayed live for over an hour before the company realized what had happened and removed it from the page.
While most people thought the tweet was a joke, others took offense to it and tweeted negative comments about the company and the tweet.
Who put this guy in charge of the @USAirways Twitter account?? pic.twitter.com/azXBUQtdJy
— Jon Eiseman (@Jon_Eiseman) April 14, 2014
“This is an example of the worst possible thing can always happen to any brand.” http://t.co/90Ht83lLpz
— Benjamin Jackson (@benjaminjackson) April 15, 2014
Some people are saying @USAirways was hacked but it looks like
an inside job.
— Veronica de Souza (@HeyVeronica) April 14, 2014
Possible headline: US Airways Attempts to Recovery Black Box From White Box
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers) April 14, 2014
So, does that still count as becoming a member of the Mile High Club? Because mama Mia
— Not Kyle Tucker, man (@NotKyleTuckerCJ) April 14, 2014
The company released an apology after the image was removed saying,
“We apologize for an inappropriate image recently shared as a link in one of our responses. We’ve removed the tweet and are investigating.”
We apologize for an inappropriate image recently shared as a link in one of our responses. We’ve removed the tweet and are investigating.
— US Airways (@USAirways) April 14, 2014
US Airways is merged with American Airlines, who has also had Twitter issues. Earlier this week, a 14 year old girl tweeted that she was a member of al-Qaeda and was planning an attack on the airline. They also released an explanation and apology on Twitter and confirmed that they were investigating the tweet and the people responsible for it. They later deleted both tweets.
US Airways has said that they do not plan to fire anyone over the tweet and believe it was an honest mistake.
Do you think the company handled the accident appropriately?
Image via Wikimedia Commons