Tweets of the Week: NASA, Amazon and ESPN Lead the Way
This week, Twitter cruised on the surface of Pluto, shopped on Amazon, celebrated the 2015 ESPY awards, and made a toast for Novak Djokovic’s big win at Wimbledon.
Twitter had a full event calendar this week, from celebrating a historical moment when NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft returned its first new images of Pluto, to finding many sweet deals on Amazon’s Prime Day. Twitter also made a toast for ESPN’s annual celebration of sports and cheered for tennis player Novak Djokovic’s victory at Wimbledon.
On Wednesday, NASA released the first zoomed-in image of Pluto, a day after its spacecraft cruised about 7,700 miles over the planet’s surface. #PlutoFlyby was perhaps the most popular subject on Twitter this week. As of this writing, the hashtag has been used 871,717 times and received more than 5.6 million engagements, according to social data intelligence company Talkwalker.
Zoom into Pluto & discover mountains, seen during yesterday’s @NASANewHorizons #PlutoFlyby: http://t.co/6QLXLxiW0o https://t.co/toJQ0j7wB6
— NASA (@NASA) July 15, 2015
We’ve come a long way since Pluto’s discovery in 1930, thanks to @NASANewHorizons #PlutoFlyby: http://t.co/ju1rVhu14o pic.twitter.com/pl5AbEaL1k
— NASA (@NASA) July 14, 2015
Big brands like Disney, Google, Windows and Lenovo wasted no time to initiate social conversations around this historical moment.
Disney created an animated post to show how the media conglomerate saw Pluto. This tweet received a whopping 4,508 favorites and 4,343 retweets, according to Talkwalker.
Oh, boy! There’s no pup more stellar than Pluto. pic.twitter.com/QwH1r51GGG
— Disney (@Disney) July 14, 2015
In celebration of New Horizons’ Pluto flyby, Lenovo and Windows also came up with fun tweets. Talkwaler’s stats show that Lenovo’s post gained 756 favorites and 932 retweets, while Window’s tweet received 529 favorites and 425 retweets.
This is what 20 years of innovation looks like, and it’s freaking amazing. #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/5lisN31ipK
— Lenovo United States (@lenovoUS) July 14, 2015
#PlutoFlyby – proof that when humanity works together great things happen. pic.twitter.com/Q2C8AuGNge
— Windows (@Windows) July 14, 2015
Although Google was not performing as well as Lenovo and Windows, in terms of engagement, the company was smart to feature Clyde William Tombaugh, the astronomer who first discovered Pluto.
He saw it first, now we’ll see it best. #OkGoogle #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/nmpxrUy4Rg
— Google (@google) July 15, 2015
While Twitter was celebrating NASA’s big achievement, it didn’t forget to check out big sales on Amazon’s Prime Day. Amazon offered deep discounts to Prime members, commemorating the company’s 20th anniversary. The special savings day was promoted as having “more deals than Black Friday.” The #PrimeDay hashtag has been used for 153,682 times, received 259,860 engagements, according to Talkwalker.
Prime Day is here! New deals as often as every 10 minutes #HappyPrimeDay http://t.co/UB9rGHi2T5 pic.twitter.com/NW2xx0ovRC
— Amazon (@amazon) July 15, 2015
Tapping into the fear of missing out, GQ compiled a list of things to buy on #PrimeDay.
Happy Amazon #PrimeDay! Here’s a roundup of all the best stuff you can buy http://t.co/gsz1Sp9bYF pic.twitter.com/mtHPCaELwB
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) July 15, 2015
Harvard Business School was more serious about this shopping festival, taking an academic approach to analyze the thoughts and decisions behind #PrimeDay.
Harvard Business School faculty examine the strategy behind #PrimeDay http://t.co/GbCUdqXN6F via @HBSWK
— Harvard University (@Harvard) July 15, 2015
Also on Wednesday, TV network ESPN hosted its annual Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award (ESPY). Google aired an ad about transgender athlete Caitlyn Jenner during the ceremony and shared the video on Twitter. This tweet gained 1,966 favorites and 1,046 retweets, according to Talkwalker.
Tonight we celebrate what it means to show courage. https://t.co/GOz5JWR8Mw #HeresToCourage #ESPYS https://t.co/eCYUYRMyTA
— Google (@google) July 16, 2015
While Google was focused on the transgender issue, brands like Reebok and Bud Light shifted their attention to Ronda Rousey, who won the Best Fighter award. During her brief acceptance speech, Rousey verbally pummeled boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, who has a history of domestic violence. Ouch!
She simply CANNOT LOSE! Congratulations on your #ESPYS wins tonight, @RondaRousey! #TeamReebok pic.twitter.com/CFiIGK180P
— Reebok (@Reebok) July 16, 2015
Cheers to @RondaRousey, Best Female Athlete of the Year! #ESPYS #UpForWhatever https://t.co/mQImjPWq94
— Bud Light (@budlight) July 16, 2015
Another Twitter star of the week is tennis player Novak Djokovic, who defeated Roger Federer and won his third Wimbledon title. Congratulations, Djokovic!
WATCH @DjokerNole can’t hide his delight after defending his #Wimbledon title http://t.co/zlWgwnDJbc
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2015
Greatness starts from the feet up. #ImpactTheGame #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/mYUPfN4wNO
— adidas (@adidas) July 12, 2015
We couldn’t resist showing our inner geek for the #WimbledonFinal
