Only a few spots left to join us for AI Marketing Strategies

Join us Sept. 24 in NYC to connect with execs from Digitas, Claire's, Marriott, Havas and others

SECURE YOUR SEAT

Kay Jewelers befuddles Twitter with #ekbwk hashtag

Silly, silly Kay Jewelers. Doesn’t it know that creating a branded hashtag, especially one that isn’t even a word or phrase, is just asking to be hijacked?

The jewelry brand has been airing a Valentine’s Day  TV spot featuring a man sitting across the table from his girlfriend. She is so engrossed in her phone — i.e., not him — that he actually has to text her in order to get her attention. So he can give her a diamond necklace. How sweet, we guess. As the spot concludes, a hashtag appears on the screen: #ekbwk, which is meant to stand for the brand’s slogan, “Every kiss begins with Kay.”

Well, of course, the Internet wasn’t going to let this hashtag just go along its merry way without messing with it. Here are some of our favorite abuses of the #ekbwk hashtag. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in Marketing

Perplexity is betting big on creators

AI companies face a tricky sell: to convince creators to advocate for a technology that many fear could threaten livelihoods.

Marketers are using AI search concerns to argue for higher media budgets

Brands with long consideration journeys, like insurance and cars, are paying close attention to shifting search behaviors. They’re using that concern to make their case for more media dollars.

In Graphic Detail: Inside the scramble to measure a brand’s AI visibility

Marketers are catching on that AI doesn’t rank their brands, it decides whether it gets brought up at all. That shift is already reshaping how the industry works.