What’s the story?
Earlier today, tennis icon Sania Mirza got trolled on Twitter after promoting a cell phone brand, One Plus using an Apple iPhone. She had posted a tweet claiming that she had been using a One Plus 3T since last few months and she was loving the experience. However, she made the mistake of tweeting from the Twitter app for iPhone.
The Twitterati showed no mercy whatsoever.
In case you didn’t know…
One Plus is a Chinese electronics manufacturer that primarily sells cell phones. One Plus 3T is one of their top models.
Apple, on the other hand, is a leading multinational technical company which is based in Cupertino, California. The company is known for its top of the line mobile phone, tablets, and laptops among other things.
The heart of the matter
A lot of celebrities use social media to promote brands. It is a good marketing gimmick as the reach of these celebrities is vast on social media. Mirza must have thought that it was harmless to follow the trend. However, she was probably unaware that the every tweet made from the app on iPhone comes with the tag ‘via Twitter for iPhone’ to promote Apple.
The users of the microblogging site took notice that she was endorsing it out of sheer personal gains and was herself not using the smartphone product. This angered many, while others trolled her ruthlessly.
Mirza was quick to delete the tweet but by then many users had already taken screenshots.
What’s next?
Sania Mirza is set to play in the semi-final match of the Italian Open tomorrow. Partnering Yaroslava Shvedova, the Indian is playing just her second tournament with the Kazakh and will look to build up some form before the French Open. As for her sponsorship deal with One Plus, we are not too sure if it’s still on or not.
Author’s take
It is not unnatural of celebrities of promoting brands on social media. However, Mirza should have been more cautious before posting the tweet. Unfortunately, social media, albeit all its many perks, does not forgive a human error.
