AMC Issues Take Down on Twitter

A few days ago, I told you all about the AMC series Mad Men using Twitter to connect with fans through the show's fictional characters.

Now, it seems AMC was not behind this brilliant social media marketing and, in a stunning display of stupidity, issued a take-down notice to Twitter.

Fans of the show, including traditional media as well as bloggers and other Twitterers, were outraged and blasted AMC for their short-sightedness.

"Its legal maneuvering may go down as the single worst use (misuse) of social media," wrote Adrants.com.

"AMC's pointless, clueless, tone-deaf and mean-spirited legal action," described TVBarn.

After word got out that these were fan-generated Tweets, people didn't care because social media is about fun. It's about participating with a brand (and each other) in a fun way, even if it's unofficial. But, AMC just didn't understand that.

One of the characters, @paul_kinsey, was developed by Mario Parise. When he created the account, he contacted AMC to tell them what he was doing and said if they had any problem, he'd cancel the account. AMC never contacted him; instead the network chose to take the legal route.

The Mad Men character tweets were welcomed by fans who were enjoying that the tweets were so "in-character." Likewise, AMC was getting a ton of favorable press from the social media world for embracing Twitter this way. Now, folks are reporting on how the network missed the mark and actually got angry over free advertising!

Here are some comments from fans:

I think it could have been a brilliant marketing scheme--and who better to do it than the MadMen? (posted by: catfc)

Such a shame AMC doesn't get it. It was fun while it lasted. (posted by: Chris)

and to think we all thought this was a brilliant ad campaign by the men who made the industry what it is. bring back don draper today! (posted by: SusQHB)

Unbelievable. I actually thought AMC was doing some brilliant marketing. I was having a blast with it. I am highly disappointed that AMC is taking this kind of action against something that could only serve to enhance the MadMen experience. (posted by: AaronWagner700)

Since the backlash, AMC issued a new statement: We wanted merely to discuss the feeds with Twitter due to concerns about the content. The network did not intend for the feeds to be yanked altogether.

Late last night the Twitter feeds were restored. But, I'm sure this incident will go down as one of the great missteps in social media marketing.

-- my two cents

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