McDonald's mercilessly mocked for Black Friday 2017 tweet 'fail'

McDonalds was mocked for the apparent social media blunder.
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Francesca Gillett24 November 2017

McDonald’s has been mocked for a “social media fail” after appearing to accidentally post an unfinished tweet promoting Black Friday.

The fast food giant tweeted a message to its 160,000 followers on Friday morning, as shoppers around the world were in the midst of snapping up deals on products from washing machines to alcohol.

“Black Friday **** Need copy and link ****” the McDonald’s tweet read, prompting many to suggest the post might have been unwittingly published prematurely.

Scores of internet users poked fun at the restaurant chain, joking it is a “nightmare” for the company’s social media team.

“U ok hun,” asked author Claire King, while marketing and PR worker Elliott Cantor said: “Someone’s had an absolute Weston.”

“Social media position opening up at McDonald’s Corporate,” another user wrote.

Chris Sherwood said: “Oh hell, @realDonaldTrump has taken over McDonald’s twitter feed.”

Others wondered whether the apparent blunder may in fact have been a deliberate attempt at publicity on a day where the internet would be packed full of Black Friday promotion announcements.

“This will probably get more awareness than their originally planned tweet,” said Londoner Musa Tariq, while another user said: “This probably is having the intended effect. No way, I would have seen the actual ad.”

But Matt Navarra, who works in social media, said: “I think it’s nice to think that and see it has clever but it’s too random and off brand [in my opinion] to be on purpose.”

But even hours after it was posted, the home of the BIg Mac had not deleted the original tweet, leading some to suggest it had embraced the extra publicity.

It appeared the restaurant chain had been preparing to celebrate Black Friday after several posts from its country-specific Twitter accounts using the pun ‘Black Fryday’.

The Black Friday custom, which was imported to the UK from the US several years ago, sees huge discounts and sales on the day after Thanksgiving celebrations.

It is the second high-profile Twitter blunder in recent weeks after The Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith accidentally tweeted the winner of the competition ahead of the programme finale airing.