It’s like they never learn that auto-tweeting user-created content is exploitable.
Normal people, or those with even the barest-minimum mischievous streak (like me) can probably guess that auto-tweeting user created content is a bad idea. But Adidas UK didn’t have those those thoughts when they cooked up their #DareToCreate campaign for their Arsenal line. The campaign had users tweeting out the hashtag, which would automatically generate a tweet with an image of shirt with their twitter handle on the back. And you can probably guess where it immediately went.
Other examples:
I’d place the odds that last one is from a German speaker as fairly low.
Naturally, these screenshots were shared widely. The tweets originally went up late Monday night, and were still accessible through early Tuesday. An Adidas spokesperson has responded on behalf of the company.
As part of our partnership launch with Arsenal we have been made aware of the abuse of a Twitter personalisation mechanic created to allow excited fans to get their name on the back of the new jersey. Due to a small minority creating offensive versions of this we have immediately turned off the functionality and the Twitter team will be investigating.
Arsenal football club also responded to the controversy:
We totally condemn the use of language of this nature, which has no place in our game or society.
We work hard as a club to encourage diversity and inclusion through our Arsenal for Everyone programme, launched in 2008 as a celebration of the diversity of the Arsenal family.
Through a number of initiatives undertaken in the community, inside Emirates Stadium and throughout the club, Arsenal strives to ensure that everyone associated with the club feels an equal sense of belonging.
The offending tweets have since been removed, and the function has been disabled pending an investigation by Adidas.
Source: The Guardian
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