It’s not always the extraordinarily good campaigns that go viral on social web. Even the bad ones get their fair share of comments, dislikes, tweets and mentions. Remember #AskJPM or Tesco “off to hit the hay” campaigns? 

April – The Month of Social Media Disasters & Embarrassment 

Everyone welcomed April with Fool’s Day, but some brands took it seriously and acted like fools on social media platforms. Here’s a roundup of social media gaffes for the month of April.  

US Airways Tweeted An X-Rated Image To A Dissatisfied Customer 

It was supposed to be like an everyday and regular customer interaction. Instead it became the most talked and laughed about stuff on the social web. Here’s what happened when @ElleRafter tweeted on Monday her displeasure when her plane sat on tarmac.  

 After what seemed like an apology, the airline asked  @ElleRafter  to contact the customer service team via a link which led her to a photograph showing a naked woman with a toy plane. What’s even more surprising was, just about a minute later, another customer was led to the same image after she complained about a delayed flight on Twitter. Daily Mail reported that the tweet was actually sent out to 418,000 Twitter users who follow US Airways.  

 It took the company an hour to remove the tweet; but the damage had been done. 

 Twitter exploded with reaction – the tweets ranged from outrageously hilarious to caustic. We’ve collected some of the funniest tweets here –  Kyle Ayers @kyleayers I’ve always said US Airways had the most leg room. Michele Catalano @inthefade Right now CNN is on the phone with @USAirways. “I heard you found a plane?” Not Kyle Tucker, man @NotKyleTuckerCJ Wow @USAirways. I’ve heard of getting screwed by an airline but this is ridiculous. Christina Warren  ✔ @film_girl Just imagine if you viewed that @USAirways tweet via Google Glass…Jessica Weil @Jessica731 Big thanks to @USAirways for finally giving us a satisfying ending to LOST.NOT BUSTER OLNEY @TRIPPINGOLNEY BY THE WAY, HAS ANYONE SEEN MY LITTLE HANDHELD PLANE?Hamburger Helper Dad @DJ_Jeff_Weaver A US Airways Plane Went Down. Where It Landed Will Restore Your Faith In HumanityChris Burke @ChrisBurke_SI And the plane, hopefully. RT @USAirways: We apologize for an inappropriate image shared in one of our responses. We’ve removed the tweet.

The airline after the investigation found that a Twitter user posted the NSFW image on its Twitter feed. And one of the employees flagged the image for removal. However, while replying to a customer, the image was accidentally sent along with the reply.  The airline said it was an honest mistake and hence didn’t terminate the employee responsible for sending the image. 

NYPD Twitter Hashtag Turns Into Bashtag 

Initially it seemed a fun and cool idea; but the results were pretty much unfun and uncool. NYPD’s Public Relations Department’s initiative to befriend tweeps went haywire when they asked New Yorkers to tweet a photo of themselves with police officers and add the hashtag #myNYPD.

Instead, they received  a flurry of pictures that screamed of police torture and brutality ( the photos were taken during the Occupy Wall Street movement). They were flooded with more than 10, 000 negative responses within a span of few hours. 

 However, not all of the photos sent in response to ##myNYPD were negative. Some featured smiling faces as well.  

 Did we miss any campaigns here? Don’t agree with the list? Tell us in comments.