Bing's Tasteless Tsunami Tweet Sparks Twitter's Rage
A social media genius at Bing decided the tsunami was a good way to boost their brand recognition on Twitter. This morning Bing tweeted: "How you can #SupportJapan -For every retweet, bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100K."
Not how it works, Microsoft: You do something good, then you get good publicity from it. At least pretend to give a shit about the human suffering in Japan irrespective of the chance it gives you to promote your search engine.
Some Twitter users have played along. But many have reacted with admirable scorn. Comedian Michael Ian Black may have launched the #fuckyoubing movement when he tweeted: "Fuck you, @bing. For every RT, I'll donate one inch of my dick up to 100k inches. #fuckyoubing."
Our other favorites:
Peter Byrnes: "To be fair, @bing is seeing the Japan quake as a branding opportunity because they're both considered horrible disasters. #fuckyoubing."
Freneticfloetry: "For every RT, @bing will Google the meaning of "donation." #fuckyoubing."
convexmirror: "Hey, remember how Google set up a people finder to help Japanese find loved ones and didn't brag about it? #fuckyoubing"
You'd think social media consultants would have realized not to blatantly capitalize on serious current events after Kenneth Cole's Egypt fiasco. If you'd like to support survivors of the Japanese earthquake, we'd recommend donating directly to Mercy Corps—in honor of Google.
Update: Bing has apologized: "We apologize the tweet was negatively perceived. Intent was to provide an easy way for people to help Japan. We have donated $100K."