United Airlines Drags Passenger Off Flight, Enters PR Hall Of Shame

Beyond Social Media Show, Episode 183

Beyond Social Media Show co-hosts B.L. Ochman and David Erickson discuss United Airlines’ epic PR fail; Outrage at Sean Spicer’s Holocaust denial; Cleverbots who know 5 million words; Twitter reportedly zapping anti-United Airline Tweets; the “Ooola Ooola Zod” alien; Amazon’s influencer program; Burger King’s Whopper prank goes wrong; …and much, much more.

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Best Digital Cases

Google Shuts Down Sneaky Burger King Ad

Burger King tried to prank voice activated devices into speaking the definition of the Whopper. But pranskters changed the Wikipedia page Whopper ingredients to include “cyanide” and “a medium-sized child.” And Google shut down the ad within hours of its launch. But we have a demo of how it worked.

Amazon Influencers

Amazon has started testing a version of its Amazon Affiliates program designed exclusively for online influencers.

Dept of Homeland Security has withdrawn its request ordering Twitter to identify a Trump critic

The legal battle between Twitter and the U.S. government ended Friday as the Department of Homeland Security withdrew its demand that Twitter release information to identify an account holder whose tweets have been critical of President Trump. Score one for free speech!

Clever Bots

Radiolab reports on three examples of very clever bots: 1) a dating bot, 2) a psychotherapy bot, and 3) Cleverbot.

“Ooola Ooola Zod” Aliens Invade TV

To illustrate the power of TV advertising, a 60-second spot by the marketing arm of TV broadcasters in the U.K., pays homage to science fiction movies. In the ad, a giant alien who only says “Ooola Ooola Zod” takes over all the TVs in England, causing huge panic. When the alien exits his craft, he and the craft turn out to be tiny. Watch the ad for the punchline.

Worst Digital Cases

United Airlines Drags Passenger Off Flight, Enters PR Hall of Shame

United sparked worldwide protest when it dragged Dr David Dao, a seated paying passenger, off a plane after knocking him out. The airline then issued a mealy mouthed apology that fueled the social media flames. The stock tanked $1 billion before United made another apology, and another, and another.


Tweets Critical Of United Airlines Being Deleted

Many Twitter users are reporting that their tweets about United Airlines dragging a customer from a plane are getting deleted.

Sean Spicer’s Ignorant Holocaust Denial

At his most embarrassing press conference yet, Sean Spicer suggests Hitler — who used gas chambers to kill Jews during the Holocaust — didn’t use chemical weapons. Reminded that Hitler gassed millions, he said that Hitler “didn’t gas his own people,” implying that German Jews weren’t really Germans. Hitler brought them to “Holocaust Centers” he said. A Holocaust survivor posted a video response.


April the Giraffe is still pregnant

I signed up for text alerts so I’ll know immediately to tune into the live cam. 153K people are watching the live cam right now!

Shiny New Stuff

Boycott Trump app

Created by the Democratic Coalition Against Trump, Boycott Trump allows users to hit Trump where it hurts most – his wallet. Search through over 250 companies and people to see they’re directly connected to Trump.

Coding Sketchboard

JSFiddle is a free coding “sketchboard” for trying out your programming ideas in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

The Daily Numbers

Top Sources Of New Customers For Local Businesses [CHART]

BEYOND SOCIAL MEDIA HOSTS

David Erickson

B.L. Ochman

BEYOND SOCIAL MEDIA SHOW

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