On April 28th, the Houston Rockets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 103-94 to advance to the second round of the 2015 NBA playoffs. With the Rockets leading by a wide margin in the waning minutes of the game, Rockets social media manager Chad Shanks tweeted the following from the @HoustonRockets verified account:
Within seconds, the tweet had been retweeted over 2,000 times, screenshotted, and comments began pouring into the Rockets and Maverick's Twitter accounts. The Rockets later deleted the tweet and issued an apology to the Mavericks and anyone else who might be offended.
Normally, this is where the issue ends with an insensitive tweet - the tweet is put out, quickly screenshotted, deleted by the organization, and an apology issued, with the social media manager receiving some behind the scenes discipline and coming up with a plan for damage control. However, there's one more twist to the story - Chad Shanks, 24 hours after the tweet was sent, is no longer employed by the Houston Rockets:
2 emojis - not even words - cost this man his job working for a professional sports team. Many of the social media managers that I follow - most of them from the NHL - posted their shock about his dismissal, as well as their thoughts on what should have happened to him. The overwhelming argument is that he made a mistake, which happens as brands try to create innovative, creative content, and he should have been punished - but not by losing his job.
In the world of professional sports, creating innovative content is key - but there are always brands that push it to far. Ever since the @LAKings told the @PhoenixCoyotes to "Bring it On." before their playoff series in 2011, many brands have tried to emulate their style on social media, with varying degrees of success. However, mistakes can happen when a brand decides to push the envelope, and the person behind the account is the one held responsible.
It is incredibly hard to get a job running a sport team's social media - believe me, after a year of looking for such a job, I know - but it is incredibly easy to lose that position. The internet is written in ink, to quote The Social Network - every single thing tweeted by any account can be screenshotted, found, and exploited. In this case, 2 emojis cost a man his job - and, like it or not, the people behind sports brands have been put on alert.
What do you think? Was it fair for Chad to lose his job? How can brands avoid this pitfall while still creating great, engaging content? Leave a comment below or tweet me @cknoblock17.