VCLEVER BLOG
There are a few basic rules to follow if you represent a brand trying to leverage the power of social media. Chief among them should be Don’t hold a Twitter Q&A session at exactly the same time as you deliver earth-shatteringly bad news to your customers. That’s what British Gas decided to do today when they got their Customer Services Director, Bert Pijls, to answer questions on Twitter using the #AskBG hashtag on the same day that they announced a 9.2% price hike.
The result? Well, you’ve no doubt heard about it: #AskBG is currently trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons as British Gas experience a deluge of public (and often hilarious) abuse.
There’s really no need to analyse a mistake of such epic proportions. What we will do, however, is take a look at some of our favourite tweets. The #AskBG feed has been keeping us amused all afternoon, so here are a few of our faves:
#AskBG My office has a window where the sun comes in and makes the side of my head really hot. How much do I owe you?
— Dean Burnett (@garwboy) October 17, 2013
24,000 pensioners died from cold last year, @BritishGas. Are you trying to round it up? #AskBG
— fleetstreetfox (@fleetstreetfox) October 17, 2013
Hi Bert, which items of furniture do you, in your humble opinion, think people should burn first this winter? #AskBG
— Lee Vincent (@LeeJamesVincent) October 17, 2013
#askbg Do you prefer one 36 carrot gold diamond encrusted horse sized duck, or 100 36 carrot gold diamond encrusted duck sized horses?
— John Coventry (@JohnnyCov) October 17, 2013
.@BritishGas #AskBG What is the best temperature to thaw an elderly relative at and what seasoning would you use with one?
— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) October 17, 2013
— Easily Tempted (@EasilyTempted) February 27, 2013
@stuiys @J_Russ87 What Champagne is best for spraying? #AskBG
— SJ (@retiredraver38) October 17, 2013
@BritishGas I can only fit 2 jumpers on at a time do you have any ideas how I could put more on ? #AskBG
— Paul Hanton (@arsenalacker) October 17, 2013
"Will you pass on the cost savings from firing your social media team to customers?" #askBG
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) October 17, 2013
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