hacked

Wow, weak. Apparently Chipotle's official Twitter account being "hacked" on July 21st was just a publicity stunt tied into their 20th anniversary marketing campaign.

So basically, some loser in marketing making seven figures a year decided it would be a good idea to fake a felony to drum up attention to their social media presence. Chipotle representative Chris Arnold had this to say about the incident:

"Chipotle appeared to be the latest brand to have its Twitter account hacked on Sunday when its main account, @ChipotleTweets, posted a series of confusing and seemingly random tweets over the course of an hour. Now, the company has come forward and admitted that it faked having its account hacked as part of a publicity stunt tied to its 20th anniversary promotional campaign. 'We thought that people would pay attention, that it would cut through people's attention and make them talk, and it did that.'" [via Mashable]

The fake tweets were retweeted 12,000 times, and the Twitter account ended up getting 4,000 new subscribers that day compared to their usual daily subscription rate of about 250.

I think we all know how Chipotle can atone for this, though. Cough free guacamole cough.

Either that or they're stepping up the "Awkward Fake Twitter Hack" game. In which case, slow clap for all parties involved.

Bath salts? In MY Angry Whopper? Say it ain't so! No word yet as to who is behind the hacking, but I think it's safe to say that the folks at the BK PR department are not having a good day.

So you know, in case you were wondering if Delta could go any lower, there you go.

As evidenced by the tweet at the end there, Crayola has since apologized for the off-color content. What shade of red do you think their social media team is right about now?

Last night, a hacker found his or her way into the social media accounts of at least nine different Major League Baseball Teams, posting status updates and tweets that ranged from the crude to the (admittedly) hilarious. Curse you, illegal criminal of cyberspace, for making me laugh!

All teams have since deleted the offending posts. The Chicago Cubs even followed up with the tweet: "For the record, the #Cubs are big fans of Bill Murray. #NotHacked."

The hacker is still at large (watch out, NHL!)

Update: Deadspin reports that the MLB Facebook and Twitter accounts were not hacked, but were instead at the mercy of a rogue employee working for the "Advanced Media" arm of the MLB (which collectively manages all its teams' online presence).

The posts may have been an inside joke and not meant for public eyes, but Deadspin also notes that employees working for the social media arm of the MLB are grievously underpaid.

The hacker spammed artist Neil Young's twitter feed with WARNING pics and links (and retweets from infamous pr0n sites) before being taken down. The power of social media, everyone!