This Tweet Brought to You by Dos Equis
To promote its "Legend of You" app, Dos Equis hired a comedian to tweet.
When Michael Ian Black ("The State" and "Ed") tweeted that the new app turned him into "a Most Interesting Person," his 1.9 million followers knew it was a paid advertisement. Black's other tweets are funny (depending on your sense of humor).
The backlash was harsh, with one tweeter saying, "I wish you had died in 9/11" and another criticizing Black for using language that an unpaid intern probably wrote. Black responded to some tweets, such as this one:
You have to admire Black's honesty, but I wonder how his employer feels about it.
Discussion Starters:
- What advice would you give to companies considering paying for tweets? Should they not do this at all, or can safeguards be put in place?
- If you were the marketing manager for Dos Equis, would you hire Black again to promote your products? He did get a good discussion going...