Image via Complex Original
Sure it's only June, but there are already plenty of FAILS to, uh, celebrate. As a growing number of celebrities and companies continue to join social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, so do their chances for online fuckery increase exponentially. It's become a sort of truism of the Internet age: the tweets are always watching. As we hit the year's halfway mark, we picked The Biggest Social Media Fails of 2013 (So Far).
15. J.R. Smith Called Out By Rihanna For Being "Desert Thirsty"
Bad gal RiRi definitely has an unique way of calling people out. While most New York Knicks fans blame J.R. Smith for losing to the Indiana Pacers, the singer took it to the next level by saying Smith is "desert thirsty" and that he lost because of excessive partying. Well, to be fair, it was self-defense: prior to Rihanna's Instagram outrage, a Knicks fan actually accused her for their loss, saying Smith was "distracted" by the Bajan beauty. We're big fans of J.R. here at Complex, but going out the night before a big game is probably not the best idea, bro.
14. Taco Bell's Failed Launch of the Cool Ranch Dorito Taco
Back in March, Taco Bell made the mistake of leaving its customers HANGRY [hungry + angry] for some Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos. Taco Bell posted a message on Facebook to its 9.8 million fans stating that the Cool Ranch tacos would be available a day earlier than expected. The post got "Liked" more than 90,000 times before fans realized that once they got to their local Taco Bell they would be sadly disappointed. Cool Ranch tacos were nowhere in sight. A Taco Bell spokesperson addressed the angry customers by saying "the early delivery was only at participating restaurants" and that customers should have called ahead to verify if their locations had the tacos.
Too bad they failed to mention this on their Facebook and Twitter page so people would actually be aware of what the real deal was. On top of that, Taco Bell ended up apologizing for the social media mishap but never addressed why or what happened for them to make such a mistake. Do better, Taco Bell.
13. HMW Employee's Tweet While Being Fired
If you're going to fire your whole social media team, you might want to remove their access to Twitter first. It's a lesson that HMV--UK's leading retailer of music, film, games and tech products--learned the day they decided to fire their staff. During the firing process, the staff fought back by live tweeting the events with the hashtag, "hmvXFactorFiring." Here are some highlights:
"Just overheard our Marketing Director (he's staying, folks) ask 'How do I shut down Twitter?' #hmvXFactorFiring"
"There are over 60 of us being fired at once! Mass execution, of loyal employees who love the brand. #hmvXFactorFiring"
"We're tweeting live from HR where we're all being fired! Exciting!! #hmvXFactorFiring"
The tweets stayed visible for 25 minutes before getting deleted. What a way to go out.
12. Rick Ross Thinks Africa Is A Country
Whoever said Rick Ross was perfect? We get it: Playas fuck up from time to time, even the self-proclaimed Miami rap bawse. According to his tweet, Rozay thinks Africa is a country. "Just landed in the beautiful country of Africa..I can tell you that the world is excited for #TheGifted"
Other things we are excited for: Rick Ross being able to distinguish between a continent and a country. Also: Next time you jet set across the globe, you might want to whip open a map.
11. Azealia Banks Beefs With Everyone
It's been a tough six months for Azealia Banks, the Harlem raptress, who seems to be beefing with everyone on Twitter. In January, Banks sent out a tweet saying, "Seriously, if you were not born and raised in NY.... DON'T CLAIM NY. YOU ARE NOT A NEW YORKER." Soon after, Angel Haze, who is not from New York, responded with, "And you don't want this fade off Twitter. So knock it off. Before you get shanked through your iridescent bubble jacket @AZEALIABANKS." Banks responded with another tweet exclaiming how shocked she was for being attacked for a tweet she obviously sent into the Twitterverse without a specific target. The two battled it out with a bunch of singles that came at each other until the beef eventually simmered down.
A month later Banks sent out a tweet saying Baauer, the man behind the resurgent "Harlem Shake" craze, took her version of the song down. Diplo later stepped in and talked to Banks about the issue. Long story short, he said they would rather have Juicy J. Banks eventually tweeted: "@diplo you're a real fucking snake. You owe M.I.A. everything you have." Our advice to Banks: just stay off the Internet entirely.
10. Tesco's Horsemeat Tweet
What's wrong with this one, you ask? To the casual observer the tweet doesn't seem out of place, but it was sent when horse meat was actually found in Tesco's frozen meals. "Hit the hay" and horse meat. Oh boy. A PR crisis at its finest.
9. Paula Deen's Apology Tour
Out of everyone, Paula Deen should know: if you can't stand the heat, get the F out the kitchen. Deen has been in hot water before for using racial slurs but recently she went too far when she admitted to using the N-word with staff members, among other things. The Food Network star has since been axed from all her shows on the network and has released a string of apology videos on the Internet. In addition to being dropped from The Food Network, Deen was also let go from Smithfield Foods, Wal-Mart, and Caesars Entertainment Company. Karma's a bitch, ain't it?
8. Havoc's Unflattering D**k Pics
Get it together Hav. Ain't nobody got time for those unflattering dick pics you tweeted. Just kidding. We know you got hacked.
Best known as one half of Mobb Deep, the rapper-producer Havoc had his account hacked in June. His bio was changed to: "Alcoholic Asshole. I get everyone pregnant and run. I also shit on everyone who has been there for me." The evidence clearly hints that the hacker who rewrote the bio is not a big fan of Hav. We're thinking an ex-girlfriend. The account has been suspended indefinitely and we're all waiting to hear what Havoc has to say about those pics. This was an epic F-A-I-L.
7. The Amy's Baking Company Nightmare
Ealier this year an episode of Kitchen Nightmares turned into a real-life nightmare. Starring Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, the owners of Amy's Baking Company, the two managed to make the British TV chef/host Gordan Ramsay quit the program for the first time in the show's history. To give you a little taste of what the couple's capable of: they stole from the waitstaff's tips, fired over 100 people, and picked a fight with a customer who was waiting for his food for an hour. Backlash poured in and the owners took to social media to air their rage. Our favorites include: "We have God on our side, you just have your sites" and "You people are all shit. Yelp shit, Reddits Shit. Every shit."
6. Epicurious Exploits the Boston Bombing
While the rest of the nation was still in shock and pain over the Boston bombing, some marketing elites actually thought it was prime time for product promotion. Yes, Epicurious we're looking at you. The "ultimate food site" tweeted right after the tragedy that we could all use some whole-grain cranberry scones and "a bowl of breakfast energy" on a devastating day like that. As for your pick-me-up suggestions, no thanks. A great deal of marketing is timing--something Epicurious and its employees obviously don't understand.
5. #AskDraya
BET's 106 & Park started the #AskDraya hashtag as a friendly way to allow fans to reach out to Basketball Wives LA reality star Draya Michele, who was set to appear on the show later that week. But what started as a good idea turned out to be a Twitter session gone horribly wrong.
25-year-old video vixen, Andraya Michele Howard, was arrested in 2010 on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child when she left her 7-year-old son at home alone while she was [allegedly] out stripping. Twitter users took full advantage of the #AskDraya hashtag started by 106 & Park to bash her relentlessly with sarcastic questions and shower her with hate. We're guessing BET did not expect the hashtag to backfire the way that it did. One Twitter user tweeted a statement that sums up the whole fiasco perfectly: "#AskDraya might be the only way her son can reach her."
4. Jeep and Burger King Twitter Hacks
Who do you blame for a Twitter hack? Is it Twitter's fault for having terrible security on their accounts or the user's fault for creating a simple password? In the case of Burger King's and Jeep's Twitters being hacked, the companies might argue both. The popular burger franchise was victim to an unwanted makeover. Hackers changed the account to McDonald's and added a new bio that stated, "Just got sold to McDonalds because the whopper flopped =[ FREDOM IS FAILURE." This was followed by a string of fake tweets about employees doing drugs, not too mention a shout out to other Hacktivists on Twitter.
Jeep got hacked the day after with similar tweets. This caused suspicion that the same people infiltrated both accounts. One follower tweeted, "Does @BurgerKing have any advice for Jeep?" And the Jeep Twitter hackers were quick to retweet it.
Might we suggest a new password, guys.
3. The Amanda Bynes Twitter Breakdown
Two Words: Amanda Bynes. Need we say more? The childhood starlet has gotten a butt-load of press from her strange Twitter rants and even stranger behavior in public. Bynes, 27, made a comeback with her Twitter account announcing that she would only be in music videos from now on and that movies were behind her. She's kept the public up-to-date on her bold and sometimes brash opinions on life, which go a little something like: "It doesn't matter if you feel sexy if you don't look sexy," "There's a surgery for everything that's wrong with you!" and "I could never marry a German because I'm Jewish." From her tweets about new surgeries, shaving her head a la psycho Britney Spears circa 2007, and lusting over Drake only to turn around and call him ugly (make up your mind!), Amanda Bynes was a shoo-in for our list. You go girl.
2. Facebook Admits To Year-Long Data Breach
In June Facebook admitted that they had "inadvertently exposed 6 million users' phone numbers and email addresses to unauthorized viewers over the past year." The world's largest social media site blamed the data leaks on a technical glitch that allowed users who downloaded contact data for their list of friends to obtain additional information that they were not supposed to have. The Facebook security team fixed the problem within 24 hours and stated that "it's still something we're upset and embarrassed by, and we'll work doubly hard to make sure nothing like this happens again." We sure hope so.
1. The Onion's C*nt Debacle
How can one tweet derail your professional reputation and get everyone to hate you at the very same time? Try calling the 9-year-old Best Actress Oscar nominee a bad four-letter word. The night of the Academy Awards, The Onion, best known for their satirical take on news, tweeted "Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhane Wallis is kind of a cunt, right? #Oscars2013." The publication quickly deleted the tweet but it was too late. Followers were quick to take a screen shot of the tweet and demanded The Onion to make an apology. But no matter what kind of apology The Onion put out, we all know that this tweet will live in infamy for being one of the biggest social media fails of 2013.