There Are No Giraffes In Ghana, Delta
 

World Cup fever has taken over newspapers, the radio, TV, the Internet,... and social media. Delta was looking to join in on the festivities with this Tweet:

http://i.imgur.com/6mrqTha.png

Along with hundreds of favorites and retweets, the airline also received some criticism. Why? The photo that was chosen to "represent" Ghana... There are no giraffes living in the country.

http://screamer.deadspin.com/there-a...aleksanderchan

http://www.diehardsport.com/2014/06/...-states-match/

Before you go looking for the Tweet, it's already been deleted.

Delta Tweeted a simple apology Tweet in response to the criticism.

I guess a picture of a giraffe is better than pictures of one-time dictator Kwame Nkrumah or coup d'etat leader Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Rawlings

Also better than showing the numbers 4 1 9, as in one of the world leaders in this type of scam.

Someone in the social media group looked up Ghana and learned that it is in Africa. Then they went to their stock of Africa images and just picked one they liked.

Kind of like learning that Wyoming is in the United States and finding a picture of an alligator to represent Wyoming. :D

There are alligators in Wyoming. They're called boots. ;)

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:D

Captured on Twitchy:

http://twitchy.com/2014/06/16/smug-p...rld-cup-tweet/

Pretty harsh response... perhaps too harsh.

Also, getting hit hard on DL's Twitter page. Kinda surprising that some of the stuff is being left up there.

DL responded quickly... so quickly that the original correction said "We're sorry for our choice of photo in our precious tweet" instead of "...previous tweet." :D

But, who among us has not stumbled in an attempted apology? ;)

This certainly qualifies as one of the most silly things to take offense at. :rolleyes:

The uproar from this is ridiculous...ignorance, yes, but racism? Really???

There Are No Giraffes In Ghana, Delta
 

I think it's hysterical. Both the pic and people being upset. Whatever, people will find anything to take offense to now. I'm sure my reply will offend someone as well.

I'm sorry, I'm not sorry.

^

The incident made the Minneapolis local TV news this morning, although without any "stupid racist" (and worse) comments that appear in the website linked in post #7 above. Television stations showed the side by side pictures with the giraffe and then DL's later apology tweet.

On days like this I feel sorry for the PR people.

Agreed 100%. People these days go around looking for things to be offended at, and they're so eager to be offended that they end up taking offense at the stupidest little things. This was dumb on DL's part, and perhaps a bit insensitive, but anyone saying this is racist is saying more about themselves than DL, IMO.

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I just think this underscores the challenge brands face with embracing social media. Right or wrong, some messaging and/or content may be offensive to others, or perhaps simply ignorant. With that said, it's still a representation of the brand. One must tread carefully these days, especially global brands.

it's anti-giraffist!