This one will go down as one of the worst examples of newsjacking since newsjacking was invented. Or, maybe since anything was invented. The idiocy is simply incomprehensible. TeamWork Online, some kind of sports industry job network, thought it might be a good idea to riff off the Malaysian Airlines flight 370 disappearance.
For it’s weekly Coaching Tip, the site wrote, “Malaysian Airlines 370 has vanished. Do you feel like employers can’t find you? Let’s get your ‘black box’ engaged. Let’s start the ‘pings.’ ‘Here are some tips on how to get noticed in a very crowded job market’ says Buffy Filippell, TeamWork Online Founder.”
When UnMarketing’s Scott Stratten called the brand out for its idiocy, they replied, “We meant no disrespect. Within minutes of noticing this we changed reference in the emails.” To which, Stratten replied, “Noticing it? It wasn’t a typo.”
Every brand wants its shining marketing moment in which it deftly leverages current culture or news in it communications but the utter lack of common sense displayed in this case is beyond belief.
You stay classy @teamworkonline (pic via Reddit) pic.twitter.com/pZU4jlqXli
— Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) March 19, 2014
