Tweets of the Week: Royal Baby Brand Fails

Welcome to Tweets of the Week, where ClickZ rounds up all the best (and worst) things brands did on Twitter for the week of May 4, 2015.

This week, Twitter was pretty packed with #Maythe4th Star Wars tweets, Cinco de Mayo, and of course, the birth of Princess Charlotte. While the busy week showed many brands had a sense of humor or at least a soft spot for newborn babies, some brands failed hard when it came to showing off their sensitive sides. Over the weekend, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcomed a baby girl, and brands wasted no time sending their congratulations. Disney’s adorable animated tweet won the day for cutest content.

British Airways stayed true to its brand but still delivered a heartfelt message to the Duke and Duchess.

May 4 is widely considered “Star Wars Day” in the Twitterverse, and the recent release of a new Star Wars trailer had many brands hoping to capitalize on fans’ enthusiasm. Charmin had a win with a bathroom humor tweet that still managed to stay on message.

Fast-food chain Whataburger managed to both draw attention to its brand and show it knows what #MayThe4th is all about.

Cinco de Mayo can be a tricky day for advertisers to find an appropriate way to enter the conversation, but Mexican grill Qdoba opted to focus on post-Cinco de Mayo hangovers for a smart, funny way to draw attention to the brand and sell some burritos.

Not every brand scored a social media victory during this news-heavy week. The birth of the royal baby gave many brands a royal opportunity to put their feet in their mouths. For example, Pizza Hut UK thought the best way to celebrate Princess Charlotte was to have followers imagine eating her.

OPI nail polish seemed confused about the appropriate age for cosmetics and also failed to offer the new parents congratulations. Keeping the message focused solely on the brand made this tweet seem a bit tone deaf.

Star Wars Day also brought out the worst in some brands who clearly don’t understand the films’ devout following. Kitkat’s reference to the film franchise was hard to understand and was more about candy than May the 4th.

Red Lobster continued its streak of bad puns that have little to do with the topic at hand.

Cinco de Mayo can be a minefield of cultural insensitivity, and restaurant chain Waffle House stepped right in it with a tweet unrelated to the holiday that seemed to be mocking a traditional Mexican name to boot. The brand quickly deleted the tweet and replaced it with something less potentially incendiary.

waffle-house-cinco-de-mayo-racist-tweet

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