Want to know how long it takes for something to not be funny anymore? 
We just found out: Roughly 27 hours.
Just one day after Burger King’s Twitter account was hacked, MTV and BET tried a publicity stunt of their own, pretending that each account was hacked by the other “sister” network. (Both are owned by Viacom)
Right before the hacking started, the following Tweet was sent out from an MTV social media staffer:
Everyone watch @mtv right now… #MTVHACK
— Annie Schoening (@Schoprah) February 19, 2013
The problem here is that the Burger King hacking appears more and more to have been a serious invasion. As does today’s Jeep online break-in.
Over the next week, cyber security is going to be a big talking point. How do brands and agencies protect their identity from acts of virtual vandalism?
Take the legitimate hackings, pair them up with catfishing (a la Manti Te’o) and the lines from truth and fiction becomes frighteningly blurry.
Unfortunately, two TV networks trying to have a little fun aren’t helping the conversation.
INSTANT UPDATE: MTV just sent out the following:
We totally Catfish-ed you guys. Thanks for playing! <3 you, @bet.
— MTV (@MTV) February 19, 2013
(Mar…
Probably an effective, if short-sighted gag for their younger audience, but what happens if either of these brand's really is hacked? MTV and BET just undermined a lot of their credibility, if they're ever hacked for real their fans will probably assume it's another trick.
@MattHurst TV network that cried wolf. Yep. It's bad mojo.
This is almost as unfunny as that time MTV followed meatheads around in Jersey and made a bunch of idiots into celebs.
@MattLaCasse Heh. Yeah. Honestly, though, crass programming doesn't offend me much. Cable TV is ad-supported, so if people watch something and companies want to pay for airtime on it, good on ya. Marketing tactics like this don't bring one new viewer to your air. Who wins? Nobody.