Poland Spring blows Rubio #watergate moment, fails Twitter 101
The water company didn't take the opportunity to capitalize on the newfound fame the Florida Republican brought after his State of the Union rebuttal error. Its Twitter accounts stayed dry.
President Obama's State of the Union speech didn't generate any memes, but Florida Sen. Marco Rubio gave the Twitterverse something to shout about: his awkward reach for a tiny bottle of Poland Spring water during his official Republican rebuttal address. Almost instantly, the moment was a trending topic.
Unfortunately for Poland Spring, its social media people -- if it even has any -- dropped the ball. What appear to be its official Twitter accounts, @PolandSpringWtr, and @PolandSpringInc, were both dormant after Rubio's instantly panned water break. In fact, the most recent tweet from either account came in January, 2011.
Poland Spring Water hasn't Tweeted since July, 2010. Right now, their rep is frantically trying to remember the password. #PolandSprings
— Jory John (@joryjohn) February 13, 2013
What should Poland Spring have done? Well, assuming it had an active social media department, it would have quickly bought a promoted tweet for its own name, or for a hashtag like the aptly penned #watergate, and taken advantage of the publicity. Just look at how Oreo made great hay with its nearly-instant response to the Super Bowl blackout. But instead, Poland Spring has ceded the Twitter war to fake accounts like @RubioH2OBottle.
Update (Wednesday, 10:26 a.m. PT): Poland Spring still has yet to update its Twitter feeds, but this morning, the company did post this photo to its Facebook page, along with this observation: "Reflecting on our cameo. What a night!"
