It was just a matter of time before some tone-deaf brand used today, the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as a social media marketing ploy. Amazingly, the guilty party was the Golf Channel.
This morning, as @jyarow pointed out, the Golf Channel tweeted:
MLK was most likely not talking about hitting the links when he said he had a dream. The Golf Channel has since deleted the tweet.
The Golf Channel is a property of NBC, which is running the broader “DreamDay” hashtag. But something about mixing golf programming and historic civil rights events struck many online as a catastrophic duff.
This isn’t the first time a brand has attempted to glom onto the historical and social importance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s groundbreaking speech. Last year Taco Bell shamelessly plugged itself in this dream-themed tweet.
Not to be outdone, Staples similarly used MLK Day as an excuse for this silly tweet earlier this year.
Image via Flickr
More in Marketing
High stakes, big budgets: How brands are navigating a massive sports year
Global ad spend on sports has increased, and brands like Grey Goose, John Deere and Lavazza coffee brand are investing.
Amazon to issue 3.5% surcharge on fulfillment services as fuel, logistics costs rise
The surcharge will apply to Fulfillment by Amazon in the U.S. and Canada, as well as some cross-border and Buy With Prime services.
Fenty Beauty launches WhatsApp AI advisor as messaging becomes beauty’s next commerce channel
The experience allows users to chat directly with the brand in Whatsapp to get product recommendations, tutorials and reviews.