Burger King saw a surprising upside after its Twitter stream was recently compromised: Tens of thousands of people began following its account. The company had about 50,000 followers before the hack, but that number shot up to more than 110,000 after the incident. “Interesting day here at Burger King, but we’re back!” Burger King tweeted. “Welcome to our new followers. Hope you all stick around!” Twitter promotes its platform as a tool that companies can use to reach out to customers. But this incident turned that model on its head: Outreach efforts led to embarrassment with the hack, but then the apparent security breakdown aided outreach by generating new contacts with potential customers. At one point, Burger King’s profile message said that the company had been sold to McDonald’s. McDonald’s denied involvement, tweeting, “We empathize with our @BurgerKing counterparts…. We had nothing to do with the hacking.”
Burger King’s Hacked Twitter Generates 60,000+ New Followers
on 3.11.13
Author: Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is Fox 5 New York's On-air Tech Expert (WNYW-TV) and the host of Fox Television's monthly show Shelly Palmer Digital Living. He also hosts United Stations Radio Network's, Shelly Palmer Digital Living Daily, a daily syndicated radio report that features insightful commentary and a unique insiders take on the biggest stories in technology, media, and entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group, LLC an industry-leading advisory and business development firm and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards).
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