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

Future of Marketing Briefing: The case for and against the death of the big brand ad

Marketing has a new favorite argument: is it still smarter to talk to a million people at once, or to find the thousand people they already trust?

Lifestyle brand Stanley 1913 uses AI behind the scenes — but execs claim it won’t touch ad creative

Not every brand is racing to let AI anywhere near its ads. Stanley draws the line there on purpose.

TikTok’s Kat Marquez unpacks NBA and WNBA creator deal

TikTok’s latest move to secure its share of the leagues’ growing audiences sees it play gatekeeper between creators and rights holders.