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alp227

(31,962 posts)
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 05:12 PM Jun 2014

Bad Tweet: Dutch airline angers Mexico soccer fans

Source: AP

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — What was meant to be a joke has turned into a PR blunder for Dutch airline KLM after it angered Mexican soccer fans by taking to Twitter to celebrate the Netherlands' dramatic comeback victory in the World Cup.

Within minutes of the Netherlands' 2-1 victory over the Tri, KLM let loose on its Twitter feed a picture of an airport departures sign under the heading "Adios Amigos!"

The post immediately went viral, with A-list Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal using not one but two expletives in a 140-character Tweet to tell his 2 million-plus followers that he'll never fly the carrier again. Amid the widespread protest online, the post was pulled a half-hour later without an explanation.

"It was meant to be a joke," KLM spokeswoman Lisette Ebeling Koning told The Associated Press, adding that the airline never intended to offend Mexicans, which it serves via a daily direct flight between Mexico City and Amsterdam. "But there was too much negative reaction."

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/bad-tweet-dutch-airline-angers-mexico-soccer-fans

21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Bad Tweet: Dutch airline angers Mexico soccer fans (Original Post) alp227 Jun 2014 OP
It was clearly a joke. Tetris_Iguana Jun 2014 #1
oh grow up people iandhr Jun 2014 #2
So is sportsmanship and showing a bit of class, too. alp227 Jun 2014 #3
Get over it. former9thward Jun 2014 #12
Exactly. SoapBox Jun 2014 #13
Hundreds/Thousands of tweets from Mexican citizens saying they will never fly KLM again. BlueEye Jun 2014 #4
lol fbc Jun 2014 #15
People take sports way too seriously mainer Jun 2014 #5
Yep. KLM really stepped in it. 47of74 Jun 2014 #6
Soccer is serious business, a lot of national pride is caught up in it MrScorpio Jun 2014 #7
Meh Bosonic Jun 2014 #8
I remember that one, I was hoping for something like "fly like Arjen Robben" jakeXT Jun 2014 #17
This message was self-deleted by its author Turbineguy Jun 2014 #9
That was marginally funny in 1959 when racist jokes were all the rage Xipe Totec Jun 2014 #10
You are correct. Turbineguy Jun 2014 #11
I too am inclined to tell the offended to grow the f*** up Skittles Jun 2014 #14
So Mexican soccer fans find that tweet offensive but chanting homophobic slurs... JVS Jun 2014 #16
^^This^^ truebrit71 Jun 2014 #18
Yet "as per NPR" they seem to have no problem FreedRadical Jun 2014 #19
Just sayin.. FreedRadical Jun 2014 #20
Delta pulled the same crap vis-a-vis Ghana KamaAina Jun 2014 #21

alp227

(31,962 posts)
3. So is sportsmanship and showing a bit of class, too.
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 05:22 PM
Jun 2014

I would've laughed if some no-name schmuck got 100's of retweets. But not from a world-class organization like a major airline.

SoapBox

(18,791 posts)
13. Exactly.
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 09:48 PM
Jun 2014

Just now on my way home from work, hearing how the "disappointed" fans, flooded from bars in Huntington Park (Los Angeles), clogging streets and intersections.

Great...can I do bullshit like this every time I'm "disappointed"?

BlueEye

(449 posts)
4. Hundreds/Thousands of tweets from Mexican citizens saying they will never fly KLM again.
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 05:28 PM
Jun 2014

They'll be in for a shock when they book their next Aeroméxico flight to Amsterdam, since it's a code-share flight... Operated by KLM.

Response to alp227 (Original post)

Xipe Totec

(43,872 posts)
10. That was marginally funny in 1959 when racist jokes were all the rage
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 08:19 PM
Jun 2014

You might want to reconsider how funny that song is today, or how clever you seem to be by posting it in this context.

JVS

(61,935 posts)
16. So Mexican soccer fans find that tweet offensive but chanting homophobic slurs...
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 09:02 AM
Jun 2014

at soccer matches is just dandy?

FreedRadical

(518 posts)
19. Yet "as per NPR" they seem to have no problem
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 09:52 AM
Jun 2014

with their major media outlets using racially insensitive terms and showing a lack of respect when referring to player of African decent.

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