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Brands and corporations around the world have embraced social media as a tool to communicate directly with their current and potential customers, but the public hasn’t always embraced them back. There are lots of reasons why a brand’s social media communications might fail, but when they do, accounts like Brands Owned on Twitter are always there to take pictures and appreciate the damage.

Some of these burns might be cheap shots or just innocent witty banter, but in some cases, internet commentators take the opportunity to highlight very real issues with these brands’ and corporations’ operations.

#1

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

andrwfhenderson Report

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Chihuahua Mama
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Always kills me when big companies try to pin climate change on the regular individual

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#2

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

Twitter accounts like Brands Owned are about more than just celebrating witty and snarky clapbacks. They tend to represent a cluster of different political value systems that can unite over a shared distrust of corporations. On a more basic level, they also give voice to some social media users’ discomfort over the idea of brand and corporations trying to pretend that they’re people.

#4

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Libstak
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bwuhaha, I'm betting that wasn't the topic and I bow to him, well played

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#5

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

TheBlueGem3 Report

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Ivo H
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11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

McDonalds should probably start selling aloe vera to have plenty of it at hand to treat this burn

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This approach to corporate/brand social media communication is a relatively recent phenomenon with a few different names, including brand humanization, personification, and anthropomorphism. In a practical sense, each of these practices seek a similar goal: making a brand, product or corporation seem like it has an individual character/personality.

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#7

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

vexwerewolf Report

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Hphizzle
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Weren’t they just complaining 2 minutes ago that everything is going to c**p because of over population?? Make up your mind major news outlets.

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#8

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Zedrapazia
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What even is the concurrence? Apple is overpriced büllshit and Linux just exists without anyone ever giving it attention. It's Windows or nothing at this point

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Social media isn’t the first or even the most culturally prevalent way in which companies have tried to achieve this. In the past (and to this day, some companies relied on charismatic or influential leaders to give them a human face. Consider Steve Jobs at Apple or Elon Musk at Tesla. Other companies have opted for mascots, like Mr. Clean, most child-oriented breakfast cereals, or the M&Ms mascots.

#10

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

kittynouveau Report

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Seabeast
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, he really looks like he's suffering in that photo. Poor fellow, I bet that's last season's suit he's wearing. /s

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#12

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

oliver2981 Report

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Ren Karlej
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do love seeing this one again and again on BP... there are no official government or council-level rules on parent and child parking in the same way you’d get for disabled parking spaces. Parking in a supermarket car park is managed and enforced by the supermarket itself, or by a private parking management company. That means it’s not illegal to park in a parent and child space without a child. But you could get a Parking Charge Notice (PCN), the same as you would if you overstayed in a car park. Who knows why they parked there - car park could have been full when they arrived in an emergency or they could be totoal kn0bheads...

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What’s different about the social media trend is that it’s happening in a space where the public is being engaged. Brands are inviting people to respond to their questions, but some of them aren’t getting the responses they were hoping for! The creation of a brand identity that people can engage with and talk to opens a whole new can of worms in terms of brand communication.

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#15

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

emily_ladau Report

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Pamela24
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Breaking a wheelchair is literally like breaking someone's limb. Hope she got her money back to be able to get a new one.

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These entities, at their core, are powerful profit-oriented enterprises. Naturally, this means they can make ethical missteps that the public will disapprove of, and when they try to later represent themselves as affable individuals, the public can still remember and address their past injustices.

#16

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

jackcalifano Report

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frederick clause
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Where I am there are so many great independent coffee shops that I think the only reason anyone still goes to Starbucks is that is another illusionary status symbol.

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#18

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

delusionalhulk Report

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Ren Karlej
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, the CEOs do need their massive bonuses and gargantuan salaries... how on earth could they buy a bigger yacht than their neighbour otherwise? Would be terrible for them.

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Despite these risks, there is research out there indicating that this strategy can provide positive results. According to a study republished on Science Direct, “The results indicate that brand anthropomorphism is a valid predictor of outcomes such as brand trust and brand commitment. Finally, in support of incremental validity, it is identified that the [brand anthropomorphism scale] explains variance in brand trust and brand commitment above and beyond the measure of brand anthropomorphism commonly employed in the literature.”

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#19

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

PenguinRandomCA Report

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Carl Roberts
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I blocked Penguin Random House when they announced they would be censoring/ altering 100 year old books.

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#20

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

tacobell Report

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Hphizzle
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Is your lemonade made with real lemons?” “ Are your Girl Scout cookies made from real Girl Scouts?” Addams Family.

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What all of this means is that IF a brand manages to successfully create a friendly or otherwise memorable and pleasant public-facing personality, they can count on that impression to influence consumers’ decisions when they decide how to spend their money. This is a goal that many brands hope for but, as we can see in this list, few actually achieve!

#24

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

FaithfulFilth Report

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Sedona
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is this actually true? It seems like an urban legend at this point. Genuinely asking.

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Whether or not we like it, this is a trend that is growing in many different industries. If you have a smartphone, it is likely that you can also use a digital assistant on it that has a human voice and can speak to you in full sentences. Websites are experimenting with using ChatGPT so they can provide every single visitor the impression of communicating with a human representative - without actually having to provide the customer service reps to do so.

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#25

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

SimuLiu Report

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Lakota Wolf
Community Member
11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This might sound weird from someone who is white af, but I am SO happy to see Asian representation in Hollywood finally. A24 does fabulous work, and I'm so glad that Everything Everywhere All at Once took Best Picture in this year's Oscars and that Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Daniel Kwan also took Best in their respective categories. (I'm not a huge fan of the Oscars, I'm kind of against them, but still am happy to finally see Asian actors/directors get the acknowledgement they deserve!) Simu Liu is a great actor and Shang-Chi is a pretty entertaining movie, even if you don't like superhero films!

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#26

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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MushroomHead22
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For great liquid cooling, try iced water. Coffee will just make you thirstier.

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#27

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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ThatCapybara
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Free ice creams for all who didn’t get at McDonalds 😌🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦

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#32

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Seabeast
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well sure, they use slaves, but they inclusively use trans slaves, so it's all good!

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#33

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Regulus Black
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I heard they were making a live action of Angry Birds movie, the villain does look scary

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#38

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

lookingsuite Report

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Anon822209
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Eddie/Suzy Izzard has been one of my favorite comedians for decades. She's hilarious and smart and was wearing heels on stage way back in the 90s.

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#39

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

Wendys Report

#40

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Sum Guy
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seems like someone "built their own pizza" and didn't include anything but the topping

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#44

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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#45

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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#46

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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DE Ray
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's Hot and it's Ready. Nobody claimed it was good. (But seriously, Little Caesars is still better than Sbarro.)

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#47

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

kfc Report

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Take me to dinner first
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm kinda imagining an actual fist fight between stick KFC guy and cartoon's popeye and it's not looking very good for kfc

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#48

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

Tinder Report

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starsailor (they/he)
Community Member
11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

lets give each other soprano nicknames >:D mine would be Finger Guns Charlie because my name is charlie and i like making finger guns

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#49

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

SNICKERS Report

#50

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

mattxiv Report

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𝖊𝖜𝖔𝛋
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I might sound ignorant asking this, but how does making a bunch of logos rainbow-coloured and posting pictures of products with rainbows actually help people in the LGBTQ+ community? The standard response is it raises awareness, but does anyone think this actually helps change anything? Genuinely curious, I see it as an opportunity for companies to get some good PR, but i’m not a member of the community and i don’t know if I should have an opinion on this or not! I should have asked this in the “ask” post the other day

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#51

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

Wendys Report

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Susan Robinson
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I WISH I had 4 dentists as friends…although if they saw my teeth, we wouldn’t be friends any longer ☹️ Not being able to afford dental care in the US is a huge problem. And no, I have never smoked meth

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#52

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Billy Harrelson
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The great irony is, a lot of retailers have discontinued selling the refills.

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#53

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

NatureValley Report

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#54

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Mike Fitzpatrick
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Welcome to the world of the oldsters! When we subscribed to cable lo those many years ago, we did it because it was commercial free programming. Well, guess what?

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#55

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

bobbyonmain Report

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Susan Robinson
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Anyone want to explain what this means? Or am I in the minority that just don’t get it

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#58

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

PabstBlueRibbon Report

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M O'Connell
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Has Arby's changed at all? I haven't eaten there in a decade because I could get a higher quality roast beef sandwich literally anywhere else.

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#60

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Stardust she/her
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There’s a Youtuber named Jarvis Johnson and he’s made a few videos looking at brand on social media and they’re funny. You should go watch the videos

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#63

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

amctheatres Report

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Susan Robinson
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you want to bring your own snacks to the theater, then by all means…but clean up after yourself!

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#65

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Hannah Marshall
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still use Lynx (UK version of Axe) cos it's cheap and I wanna smell like "an angsty teenage boy" (that and I don't like the smell of most other sprays. Women's ones are the worst, which is why I use men's.

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#71

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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#72

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

ASOS Report

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Susan Robinson
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What does wetin dey happn mean? I am 47 and obviously clueless 🤷🏻‍♀️ Wow, that was hard to type without autocorrect zapping me!

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#73

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

Oreo Report

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#75

Brands-Getting-Owned-On-Twitter

BrandsOwned Report

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Xenon
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a T-shirt with the dog and the caption America deserved 9/11.

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