Monday night, the Twitter account belonging to DiGiorno Pizza saw the #WhyIStayed hashtag trending and apparently decided to tweet about its pizza with it.
Example of a brand using a trending topic without understanding the context #Advertising #SocialMedia #WhyIStayed
What the person behind the account didn't seem to understand is that #WhyIStayed was started in response to the newly surfaced video of NFL running back Ray Rice assaulting his wife.
Men and women were using #WhyIStayed to organize a conversation about why they chose to stay with an abusive partner.
I tried to leave the house once after an abusive episode, and he blocked me. He slept in front of the door that entire night. #WhyIStayed
I believed I deserved it #whyistayed I knew my future children didn't #whyileft
After DiGiorno's tweet, users were furious. Many of the users who shared their stories of domestic violence were appalled that the company tried to use them to advertise pizza.
.@DiGiornoPizza then you shouldn't interject in the conversation associated with a hashtag in first place. Apologize, by donating to @PPact?
@DiGiornoPizza Dont apologize 2 us. Apologize to the battered women who just confessed Y they stayed N an abusive relationship #whyistayed
Hi, all social media experts pls take a lesson from @DiGiornoPizza When you step in it, you give real apologies & not excuses. Good job.
DiGiorno ran up in the #WhyIStayed hashtag without reading and tried to backpedal like...
The account quickly deleted the tweet and issued an explanation, saying it didn't read what the hashtag was about.
A million apologies. Did not read what the hashtag was about before posting.
Since last night, however, it's taken things a step forward.
The account is now currently writing personal apologies to anyone that tweets at it.
DiGiorno's parent firm, Nestlé USA, told BuzzFeed News the tweet does not reflect its company's values, saying:
"This tweet was a mistake, quickly realized as such and deleted seconds later.
"Our community manager — and the entire DiGiorno team — is truly sorry. The tweet does not reflect our values and we've been personally responding to everyone who has engaged with us on social media.
"We apologize."