#SUXORZ 2012: The worst social media screw-ups of the year | Blogads
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#SUXORZ 2012: The worst social media screw-ups of the year

by
February 17th, 2012

Each year, when Blogads hosts #SUXORZ at Social Media Week NY, we think its the last. We naively believe that corporations, politicians and celebrities will finally learn how to do The Social Media right. Lucky for the mob of 150 social media fanatics that joined us at the Gershwin Hotel on Wednesday night, 2011 defied and our optimism and was full of spectacular social media screw-ups.

This year’s SUXORZ panel was the final panel of the Blogads Social Media Spectacular. As in prior years, Blogads’ CEO Henry Copeland was the ring leader. Henry was joined by 360i’s VP of Emerging Media David Berkowitz, creative technologist and integrated marketer BL Ochman, DigiDay Editor-in-Chief Brian Morrissey, and sex & relationship author Twanna A. Hines.

The crowd showed up early to libate up on complimentary beer and wine, then grabbed their noisemakers and popcorn and settled in to jeer the best of the worst in social media.

Want to take a peak at SUXORZ? Maybe you were there and need a new Facebook profile pic. In any case, check out our SUXORZ 2012 album.

THE DECK

ROUND 1: #tinears

These folks proved that it’s a little too easy to click that “send” button when you THINK you have a great idea.

Winner: Ashton Kutcher tweets pro-Paterno (and anti-taste)

Runners up:

ROUND 2: Don’t Mess with Bloggers

What happens when you kick a swarming nest of bloggers?

Winner: Ragu spams dad-bloggers with video making fun of them

Runners up:

ROUND 3: Fun with hash tags

“Hey, we hear there’s something called a hash tag! Let’s try to use one!”

Winner: Durex writes a seriously offensive #DurexJoke 

Runners up:

ROUND 4: Twitter Hijacking

Before choosing your brilliant hashtag or account name, make sure it’s not taken already in social media. And then make sure that people actually like you.

Winner:  Netflix launches Qwikster without checking out @Qwikster, a king stoner, first 

Runners up:

PALETTE CLEANSER: Well-Played

The #SUXORZ panel isn’t completely focused on failure. Here are some social media wins from the last year:

ROUND 5: Trying too hard

If you don’t really get social media, you really shouldn’t use it.

Winner: Woody Harrelson goes on Reddit, refuses to answer “anything” in an AMA (ask me anything) forum

Runners up:

ROUND 6: Politics

Because politicians need to show how relatable they are, they manage to hash up social media, too.

Winner: Anthony Weiner… need we say more?

Runners up:

ROUND 7: Shut up!

Forgetting that social media is, y’know, social, these folks didn’t want to hear from their customers.

Winner: Boners BBQ tells Yelping customer to go play “hide and go f*ck yourself.” 

Runners up:

ROUND 8: Audience Choice

We asked the #SUXORZ mob what their favorite social media #FAIL of the last year was.

Winner: JetBlue places QR codes in subway, where no one has Internet access.

FINAL ROUND: DUREX VS WEINER

In softball tournament fashion, we split our nominees into two groups and had the audience vote via noisemaker, as they had done all night. Then we pitted the two round-robin winners against each other. After all was said and done, Durex was named the most unforgivable social screw-up of the year.

MORE REACTIONS FROM THE #SUXORZ MOB

We had another great turnout this year. Here are some more of the night’s best tweets.


Check out Heidi Cohen’s blow-by-blow coverage over at SmartBlog on Social Media and Susan J Campbell’s wrap-up on her Copywriting Solutions blog.

Do you have your own favorite terrible social media blunder? Submit it to the SUXORZ Facebook group, and maybe we’ll trash it next year.

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