Brands’ Lame Attempts at Trending Hashtags

Brands are notoriously bad tweeters. Whether it’s dumb retweet requests or cheesy and transparent ploys to get interactions, brands can be pretty shameless.

Another corny Twitter tactic that brands often use is jumping in on trending hashtags. It’s just another forced, self-promotional way that brands try to insert themselves into social media conversations that doesn’t add value or entertainment to Twitter.

Here are some examples of brands hijacking the hashtag #YouGainMajorPointsIf and #IfIDontReplyItsBecause. Taco Bell is a double offender.

McDonald’s

Taco Bell

Arby’s

Wendy’s

Applebee’s

Taco Bell

 

Swiffer

Image via Shutterstock

More in Marketing

Illustration of a robot talking to a person.

DMexco ’26 Briefing: From scaling AI operations to teaching the next generation of ‘bold’ CMOs

DMexco 2026 media partner Digiday hosted two panels that outlined the challenge of AI at scale and the CMO of the future.

Marketers bemoan the culture of ‘good enough’ as standards fall amid the AI bubble

‘Drowning in measurement,’ marketers mull priorities in an internet where ‘two audiences’ exist. 

Future of Marketing Briefing: Imagining the ad business hiding inside Meta’s Muse

Meta’s Muse is ad-free for now. Don’t expect that to last.