Twitter was abuzz yesterday as everyone awaited the announcement of who would be elected as the new Pope. Of course some brands couldn’t resist the urge to insert themselves in the trending conversation. This is the Real-Time Marketing Era™, in case you haven’t heard.
Here are some examples of brands who tried to capitalize on the announcement of Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, as the new Pope Francis.
Carl’s Jr.: The fast food brand jumped onboard quickly with this cheesy tweet. When questioned by a CNN reporter about the apropriateness of the tweet, Carl’s Jr. stuck to its message. Points for tying it not only to a product but also for being timely with the Lent message to boot.
White smoke over the Vatican = New Pope. White smoke @carlsjr = lunch hot off the charbroiler! #EatLikeYouMeanIt
— Carl’s Jr. (@CarlsJr) March 13, 2013
@ryansloanecnn Well, we do have a delicious ew Charbroiled Atlantic Cod Fish Sandwich for Lent…
— Carl’s Jr. (@CarlsJr) March 13, 2013
Citroen: The car brand was ahead of the game and made this video and released it yesterday in anticipation of the papal election announcement. As you’ll see, the white smoke is a theme.
We couldn’t wait for the white smoke… #Conclave#Papa#Vaticanoyoutu.be/YhoDG6_fQMg
— Citroën (@Citroen) March 12, 2013
Ford: Ford also went white smoke. For some reason Ford deleted its harmless Pope tweet, but here it is via a retweet.
Connecting brand to the agenda, wisely.. ” @fordmustang: We have white smoke too…” twitter.com/smailnsmiles/s…
— mustafaismail (@smailnsmiles) March 13, 2013
Image via Shutterstock
Comedy Central: Comedy Central used the white smoke reference to plug one of its shows, “Workaholics.” It struck something of a cord as 51 people retweeted. Not exactly viral but a start.
There’s a lot of white smoke at the Vatican. The #Workaholics guys must be paying a visit.
— Comedy Central (@ComedyCentral) March 13, 2013
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