Why would that tweet be so destructive? Well, as Twitchy reported, the #WhyIStayed hashtag was sparked by the surfacing of a beyond disturbing video of Ray Rice abusing his then-fiancee (now wife) Janay Rice. Why did she stay with an abuser? Brave women tried to explain by telling their own heartbreaking stories on Twitter Monday under the hashtags #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft.
So, you see, DiGiorno’s tweet was outrageous and people had reason to be enraged.
DiGiorno tweet is exactly why social media mgrs need to follow current events like it's their job. Critical to understand pulse of convos.
— Jess Smith (@WarJessEagle) September 9, 2014
RULE. Read the article/work out what the hashtag means before making a fatuous smartarse tweet: http://t.co/qHigqo83TV
— Mark Colvin (@Colvinius) September 9, 2014
https://twitter.com/Posietron/status/509177819801587712/
DiGiorno Pizza swiftly deleted the tweet and issued an apology.
A million apologies. Did not read what the hashtag was about before posting.
— DiGiorno (@DiGiorno) September 9, 2014
Note brand tweeterers, when you mess up like @DiGiornoPizza did, profuse apology goes a long way.
— Drug Monkey (@drugmonkeyblog) September 9, 2014
It didn’t go a long way for everyone and the Twitter account spent hours personally apologizing to its customers.
@HeAintReally I couldn't feel worse about this. I am so sorry, I carelessly did not check the context of the hashtag before posting.
— DiGiorno (@DiGiorno) September 9, 2014
@DiGiornoPizza @HeAintReally Not good enough.
— Derek Rumpler (@DerekRumpler) September 9, 2014
@DerekRumpler @HeAintReally I would never intentionally make a joke about such a serious topic. I'm sorry to anyone & everyone it's affected
— DiGiorno (@DiGiorno) September 9, 2014
It would appear the @DiGiornoPizza account is about to set a record for most apology tweets in a single night.
— Casey Dolan (@thecaseydolan) September 9, 2014
There are many more such apologies on its timeline.
@DerekRumpler @DiGiornoPizza "Fool! How dare you think you can stop my rabble rousing with a mere apology & explanation!" #kindapathetic
— (((TheTracker))) (@IdiotTracker) September 9, 2014
Heh.
Others appreciated the sincere, no B.S. apology and tried to end the outrage.
https://twitter.com/rachelveronica/status/509188366701588480
Now I feel bad for the pizza account person. pic.twitter.com/H7wVilnKrc
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) September 9, 2014
https://twitter.com/coolhandschlute/status/509196147861487616
https://twitter.com/coolhandschlute/status/509196311506477056
@Jodi_Williams_ @heatherwilkey @DiGiornoPizza get over yourself. A mistake was made by a human. An apology happened. Move on.#easilyoffended
— Bryan (@kovalevrulz27) September 9, 2014
@DiGiornoPizza A sincere apology instead of a backhanded PR non-pology is always appreciated. Thanks! Good guy pizza over here.
— Larry Matovina (@larrymatovina) September 9, 2014
@Nikka_777 It is so sad, that some people can't accept an apology. I 100% agree with you. Mistake, apology, move on. @DiGiornoPizza
— Mrz ???Mazz (@mrzmazz) September 9, 2014
@DiGiornoPizza That's a genuine, stand-up apology. You don't normally get those online. #ApologyAccepted #hashtag
— #BlackLivesMatter, Dammit! (@HeAintReally) September 9, 2014
https://twitter.com/claudiagray/status/509198294028124160
Agreed.
@DiGiornoPizza I appreciated your quick apology & owning up the mistake. (Hoping your boss is as forgiving…)
— Kelli Russell Agodon (@KelliAgodon) September 9, 2014
Public figures can learn from this apology. Let’s contrast this apology with, say, these faux-pologies:
- Despicable: Samuel L. Jackson: ‘Unfair shit: GOP spared by Isaac,’ ‘not understanding God’s plan’; Update: Faux-pologizes, continues rant
- ‘Lunatic!’ Melissa Harris-Perry ‘apologizes’ to Romneys (with self-serving hashtag); Do you buy it?
- Michelle Goldberg’s faux-pology to Ann Romney
- Jim Carrey douche-apologizes to ‘assault rifle fans’; He totally loves you ‘heartless motherf*ckers’
The Baltimore Ravens have yet to apologize for its vile tweet about Janay Rice. They simply deleted it quietly months later.
An exit prediction:
In years to come, "apologize like the DiGiorno Pizza social media person" will mean "make a sincere no-BS apology" & nobody will recall why
— Jess Zimmerman (@j_zimms) September 9, 2014
Related:
Abused women share their stories of #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft
‘3 months later’: Baltimore Ravens delete ‘cringeworthy’ tweet about Janay Rice