German football club FC Bayern Munich provides an example of a social media stunt that went wrong. During January, the Club had teased supporters on its website by promising that a ‘bomb’ striker would be signing for the club.
Excited fans were told that the identity of their new star player would be unveiled at a press conference broadcast on the FC Bayern Munich Facebook Page at 1pm on 26 January. They were encouraged to like the page to gain access to the video.
Fans visited the page to see the press conference but when the time came announce the new striker, the Club’s Sporting Director displayed a piece of paper showing the profile picture of a Facebook user watching the video. There was no new ‘bomb’ striker and in a clumsy way the Club were announcing that the new 12th man was ‘the fans’.
Having been encouraged to like and visit the page through false pretences fans expressed their displeasure on Facebook and Twitter. So much so that FC Bayern trended on Twitter in the UK which is how I spotted the story.