How to Irrepairably Hurt Your Brand in 140 Characters (Update)

“Hash Hijacking” is the term used on Twitter when you use a trending hash tag to market your business, when it has nothing to do with the hash tag. For those unfamiliar with the term hash tag, it is defined as:

A tag embedded in a message posted on a microblogging service [Twitter], consisting of a word within the message prefixed with a hash sign.

Clothing Designer Kenneth Cole created a social media firestorm today by using the trending hash tag #Cairo to sell a few more coats.

From Kenneth Cole’s Twitter account during the violent uprising in Egypt:

Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at (link).

Sure, more people have heard about Kenneth Cole, but the saying “any publicity is good publicity” isn’t necessarily true.  But, thanks, Kenneth Cole, for providing a text-book example for other businesses on exactly what not to do, and why hiring professionals to manage your social media outlets are a good idea.  The ending -KC apparently means that Kenneth Cole himself sent the tweet. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Meanwhile, over 300 people have been killed and thousand wounded in Cairo during the recent turmoil. Thanks to hash tag hijacking, thousands of people that may have been open to purchasing Kenneth Cole fashion are now turned off and will take awhile to win back.

Update (10:30 PST):

Kenneth Cole has responded to the backlash on Twitter:

From Kenneth Cole Twitter response:

Re Egypt tweet: we weren’t intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment -KC

Update 2 (1:10 pST)

Kenneth Cole posts the following apology on Facebook:

I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.

Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer

Well, it’s a start to repair his brand name.